By Don Mills
About a year ago, my wife and I were traveling to Palm Springs through Calgary on WestJet. Upon our arrival in Calgary, our flight to Palm Springs was delayed two hours due to a snowstorm.
This was completely understandable and beyond the airline’s control. On our approach to Palm Springs, the pilot informed us that due to high winds the airport was closed, and we would be diverted to LAX. Again, perfectly understandable.
As we approached LAX, the pilot informed us that a WestJet agent would come onto the plane to provide information about what arrangements would be made to get us to the final destination. Upon landing, the pilot informed us that the agent would meet us at the gate instead.
There was no agent waiting for us at the gate. An announcement was made for our flight to go collect our baggage where a WestJet agent would meet us and explain what the plan was to get us to Palm Springs. Again, for the third time, no agent appeared. We waited nearly an hour by the time our baggage finally arrived, and a public announcement was made to find our own way to Palm Desert, keep the receipts and we would be reimbursed by WestJet.
By now it was 10 at night. There were a number of young families with infants, and elderly passengers, some in wheelchairs, left completely on their own to find their way to Palm Springs.
Palm Springs is about two hours from LAX by car. My wife and I decided to use an Uber to get to Palm Springs, but we were unable to pick up our car rental because the airport was closed by the time we got there. We had to take an Uber back to the airport the next day to pick up the rental.
The next day, I contacted WestJet to complain about the treatment of passengers, and seeking compensation for the bad experience. I ended by escalating the call to the agent’s supervisor and ultimately to the manager of that supervisor without any satisfaction.
We submitted our expenses and eventually received payment for most, but not all our expenses. It was then I decided I needed to file an official complaint against WestJet through the Canadian Transportation Agency’s conformance division.
I worked with Marla LeBlanc, a senior investigator of CTA’s Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Directorate, which is located in Moncton. In April of 2024, LeBlanc took a detailed statement of my complaint and informed me that she would investigate the complaint.
At that point, I was not optimistic that anything would result from my complaint.
People who know me well know that I rarely give up once I make a decision. A number of months passed during which I kept regular contact with the CTA representative, still not confident that any action would be taken as time seemed to drag on.
Then in early January, LeBlanc informed me that CTA had concluded its investigation and had verified the details of my complaint with other passengers on the same flight and was issuing a Notice of Violation to WestJet, fining the airline $146,300 for failing to provide the required alternate travel arrangements and communicate the required information to passengers who were affected by the cancellation.
WestJet has since paid the fine without appealing the decision. Upon hearing CTA’s decision, I had a sense of great satisfaction that an airline had been held to account for an egregious disservice to its customers. I sensed that LeBlanc was also happy about the outcome because it is just so difficult to hold airlines accountable for their actions in this country.
Here is the actual public notification:
WestJet penalized for violations of the APPR and ATPDR
January 17, 2025 – Gatineau, Québec – Canadian Transportation Agency
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has issued administrative monetary penalties totaling $146,300 against WestJet for violations of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).
On March 2, 2024, a WestJet flight destined for Palm Springs was diverted to Los Angeles. WestJet failed to provide the required alternate travel arrangements and communicate the required information to passengers who were affected by the cancellation.
The airline was also penalized in the amount of $50,000 for a violation of the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR).
Specifically, on February 22, 2024, WestJet failed to accept a service dog for transportation and permit the animal to accompany the person on board, at the request of a person with a disability.
These contraventions relate to subsections 13(5), and 18(1) of the APPR, and subsection 51(1) of the ATPDR.
WestJet has 30 days to request reviews before the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada.
While it did take some effort and time, and a little tenacity, I was gratified with the outcome of my complaint for a number of reasons. Airlines seem to count on their passengers not to take action on their complaints or bad service experiences.
The current Canadian Air Passenger Rights legislation is well-intentioned but has weak enforcement, and if you are seeking compensation for delays due to the airline or lost baggage, there is currently a waiting list of more than 70,000 in the queue to be adjudicated, with an expected wait time of 18 months for a decision.
It is not surprising that few air passengers follow up with their complaints. That is what the airlines seem to be counting on, and if they get fined occasionally for bad service, it becomes simply a cost of doing business, as I am sure the fine to WestJet from our experience will be.
Nevertheless, each of us has a responsibility to advocate for better treatment from airlines and other businesses serving the public. The action I took was not to receive personal compensation for the mistreatment by WestJet, but to ensure the airline was reminded that there are consequences to not abiding by their tariffs.
As a side note, I started following WestJet CEO Alexis Von Hoenbroech on LinkedIn shortly after filing my complaint and when he would post good news stories about his airline, I would share his post with my followers, congratulating him on the news and then asking him when WestJet would improve its on-time performance and customer service.
It was always done respectfully, which is important. It didn’t take long for him and a few other WestJet executives to check out my profile. To his credit, he has not yet blocked me as a follower. My last response to one of his postings was to share CTA’s decision with him, but he chose not to make a comment.
It is a good reminder of the importance of using social media as a channel to hold companies accountable for their service, and also a good reminder of the power of consumers if they decide to fight back.
Don Mills is a regular columnist with The MacDonald Notebook and the former founder and owner of Corporate Research Associates Inc. (now Narrative Research). He remains active as an advocate for change and continues to have ownership interests in several companies, including CABCO. He is also the co-host of the popular weekly Insights podcast.
Halifax-South Shore business leader Don Mills.
