Another WestJet flight cancellation, another Saskatchewan resident paying the price.
John Nelson was on a flight back from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Feb. 25 when things started to go wrong right from the get-go.
His flight was supposed to leave from Fort Lauderdale and head to Calgary at 3:30 p.m., but that got pushed back two hours.
The flight from Calgary to Regina was supposed to happen at 9:40 p.m., but they didn’t get into the airport until much later, and then they were told the flight had been cancelled.
“Well, you could hear the groans. At first, there was this laughter, but it was not laughter of joy, it was laughter of disbelief,” Nelson said.
He said some passengers were told there was nothing available until March 2 or 3.
They received their baggage and got hotel vouchers over their phones, but Nelson said they still had to pay the $50 to get a cab down to the hotel.
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Nelson said children were crying, and the disbelief continued.
“We were all left to fend for ourselves.”
Nelson said there’s a lack of compassion from WestJet, as well as a lack of understanding and integrity.
He noted that he’s hearing more and more horror stories regarding air travel in Canada.
Nelson said the next day they got a notice for a 9 a.m. flight, but pointed out the long wait times to go through security and baggage.
He added that all they received was a statement from WestJet.
“I just think it’s horrific. I think it’s shameful that there’s not more accountability on the part of airlines.”
Justin Reves, the manager of customer experience and marketing for the Regina Airport Authority, said airlines are saying there’s a shortage of pilots, noting they aren’t able to put on as many flights as they’d like to.
He said planes are full, and they’ve been having discussions on how to get more capacity into the market.
“It’s definitely a challenge for them, because they’re constrained on even the amount of flights they can put on.”
He said that poor weather exacerbates the already struggling conditions.
In a statement to Global News, WestJet said they could provide limited details about the situation, noting they have to be provided the flight or reservation number.
“We have taken into account several learnings as a result of the disruptions we experienced this holiday season to better our operational resiliency however, in any irregular operational situation due to weather during peak travel periods like we saw this past weekend in British Columbia, aircraft and crew availability are equally affected and the impact can be felt far past the affected region,” the statement read.
WestJet added they are fully staffed across the network.
“We have and continue to responsibly manage and plan our operations to meet the anticipated demand of our guests.”
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