Passengers ‘in the dark’ as WestJet flight cancellations continue days after strike ended

It’s been two days since WestJet mechanics ended their strike, but passengers are still dealing with cancelled flights and frustration.

“We were starting to wonder, ‘Are these new bookings real?'” Laura Stewart told CBC News Tuesday after WestJet changed and cancelled several of its flights over the long weekend.

“We were really in the dark.”

WestJet grounded 72 per cent of its fleet after mechanics announced a surprise strike Saturday, leading to a series of flight cancellations affecting at least 100,000 passengers. The strike ended Sunday, but the Calgary-based airline warned Monday that disruptions would continue for several days.

WestJet said it had cancelled 1,137 flights in Canada due to the strike as of Tuesday, including 295 on Monday and 75 on Tuesday. It expects eight flights to be cancelled on Wednesday.

“WestJet has made significant progress in returning to normal operations,” the airline wrote in a news release. “To date, 125 of WestJet’s 180 aircraft fleet are now operating across the airline’s network.

“Unfortunately, as the July long weekend is a peak travel period in Canada, availability is limited within our network and with other carriers, making re-accommodation options extremely difficult.”

Meal vouchers not enough, says frustrated traveler

Stewart, 55, was travelling with her husband from Australia to Hawaii and preparing to leave the Honolulu airport on Friday when, she said, she began hearing media reports about the WestJet strike.

When the couple went to change planes in Vancouver on Saturday morning, their flight back to Regina was cancelled.

WestJet rebooked them on another flight, which was also later cancelled, Stewart said, so they paid out of pocket for a hotel in Vancouver.

After another cancellation the next morning, they finally flew to Edmonton with the promise of a connecting flight to Regina. But that flight was also cancelled, requiring them to pay for another hotel stay, this time in Edmonton.

Finally, after another delay, they arrived back in Regina on Monday. Stewart says all they could show for the harrowing days of travel were two $15 meal vouchers.

“We were very fortunate to be able to meet the additional costs and manage the delay.”

Which flights are cancelled on Tuesday?

Meanwhile, other WestJet customers remain stranded, including Gary Tater, 56, and his girlfriend, who have been stuck in Las Vegas since their return flight to Edmonton was cancelled Sunday.

“We are very concerned about leaving Las Vegas as we approach July 4. Hotel prices are going to skyrocket,” Tater told CBC News in an email.

Using WestJet’s flight tracker, CBC News counted at least 63 cancelled flights scheduled to depart from Canadian airports that day as of Tuesday morning. Calgary had the most cancelled flights, with 18 cancelled flights, followed by 10 cancelled flights from Toronto and six cancelled flights from Vancouver.

Also in British Columbia there were:

• Three flights cancelled from Victoria.
• Four from Abbotsford.
• One from Comox.
• One from Nanaimo.
• One in Prince George.
• Two out of Kelowna.

In the Prairies, in addition to the 18 cancellations from Calgary, there were:

• Five flights cancelled from Edmonton.
• A flight from Fort McMurray, Alberta, was cancelled.
• A flight from Grand Prairie, Alberta, was cancelled.
• Three flights from Regina have been cancelled.
• A flight from Saskatoon has been cancelled.
• Three flights cancelled from Winnipeg.

In Ontario and further east, there have also been cancellations in the following cases:

• One in Hamilton, Ontario (its only flight is Tuesday).
• One in London, Ontario.
• Two in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
• One in Quebec (his only flight on Tuesday).
• Two flights cancelled from Halifax.
• Flight cancelled from Moncton, New Brunswick

If your flight is delayed or cancelled, you will be notified by email if the airline has your email address on file, according to the WestJet guest update page.

You can also check the status of your flight on the airline’s website, by flight number or by airport.

What are your options?

WestJet says that if your flight is delayed or cancelled, it will make “every effort to get you to your final destination, including transferring guests to other airlines, if possible.”

In a statement posted on its website Friday, WestJet said there are “limited re-accommodation options,” suggesting it would be difficult for some people to make alternate plans to get to their destination.

In its update Tuesday, WestJet wrote that, in accordance with the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, “in the event that re-accommodation with WestJet or another airline is not available within 48 hours of a customer’s scheduled departure, customers are entitled to request a refund to their original method of payment.”

On Tuesday morning, the company wrote that “if online management is not possible for your reservation, our contact center is available 24/7 at 1-888-937-8538.”

But Tater, in Vegas, says trying to reach WestJet has proven nearly impossible.

“We have spent over 16 hours on hold with them since Sunday night and each time those calls were cut off before we could speak to anyone,” he wrote.

“We are extremely frustrated.”