B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered WestJet to reimburse travellers after its reservation system changed upcoming flights while they were in the air.
Tribunal vice-chair Shelley Lopez said in her July 25 decision that the family of SM, SB, BM and OM booked tickets on the flight together in July 2022.
“Mid-flight on the Vancouver to Calgary leg of applicants’ international trip, WestJet cancelled their boarding passes for their connecting flight out of Calgary,” Lopez said.
The names are anonymized in the decision to protect the children’s identities.
She said the company did so on the belief they would not make that connecting flight, which turned out to be incorrect as they were able to make it to the gate in time.
At the same time as it cancelled that connecting flight, WestJet rebooked the applicants onto different flights. That move ultimately resulted in a delay of more than nine hours for arrival at their final European destination.
“The applicants took a WestJet flight from Vancouver to Calgary, with Europe as their final destination,” Lopez said. “The flight from Vancouver to Calgary was delayed by 59 minutes. The delay was within WestJet’s control.
"Mid-flight, WestJet’s ‘automatic re-accommodation tool’ anticipated that the applicants would be unable to meet the minimum 45-minute connection time for a domestic to international terminal transfer and 're-accommodated' the applicants to new flights," Lopez said. "The new flights required the applicants to stay overnight in a hotel in Calgary, and then stop in Halifax on their way to Europe.”
The family claimed WestJet owed each of them a maximum of $2,400 in compensation under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR). They capped their total claim at $5,000, the tribunal’s monetary limit in small claims matters.
“This $5,000 is comprised of $750.56 for travel-related expenses, and the balance for denied boarding,” the tribunal said.
“The issue in this dispute is whether the applicants experienced a ‘denial of boarding’ as defined in the APPR,” Lopez said.
The family claimed WestJet’s “automatic re-accommodation tool” caused them to be denied boarding. WestJet said there was no denial of boarding, because APPR compensation is only available when the airline overbooks the flight, which was not the case in this situation.
The tribunal noted WestJet has already paid the applicants $1,000 each for delayed arrival.
Lopez found there was space on the connecting flight.
“Given the above, I find there was no denial of boarding as defined in the APPR,” she said. “This means WestJet does not owe the applicants compensation for denied boarding under the APPR or under the applicable tariff. I dismiss this aspect of the applicants’ claim.”
WestJet had already agreed to pay $743.40 in travel-related expenses but said it owes nothing more. And, that’s what Lopez ordered the airline to pay.
