WestJet strike leaves B.C. family stranded in Mexico

A British Columbia family is desperate to bring their daughter home after their WestJet flight from Mexico was cancelled due to a labour dispute.

The cancellation is one of more than 1,000 across the country and is the result of a two-day strike by the mechanics’ union that affected more than 100,000 passengers, according to the company.

Kristen Williams and her family were supposed to leave Puerto Vallarta on Saturday when they were informed their flight was canceled. Since then, the family has been unable to find another route back to Terrace, Williams said.

“I felt really helpless,” she said. “I felt abandoned. There’s no communication, so we literally felt stuck here.”

Williams said her family repeatedly called the airline and contacted WestJet counter agents for help. She told CTV News the agents told her they were subcontractors and therefore were unable to rebook the family’s flight.

“Our loved ones are home and worried about us,” Williams said.

She added that the earliest they could return home was July 7. Her 21-year-old daughter is already behind on her weekly medication for rheumatoid arthritis.

“We have to take her home,” she said. “I wanted to send my daughter home, to a pharmacy, because we need her prescription. We can’t get it filled here.”

Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passengers Rights, said an airline is required to rebook passengers on another flight within 48 hours, at their own expense, or purchase another ticket on another airline.

“What passengers can do in a situation like this, if WestJet refuses to rebook them – as required by law – is to book a ticket themselves and have WestJet pay for it,” Lukacs said.

On Tuesday, WestJet said it had cancelled 1,137 flights since Thursday and that 125 of 180 planes are now back in service as the airline works to resume normal operations.