Some Flair customers say they’re owed more after plane seizures, flight cancellations

MONTREAL –

Flair Airlines stated Monday it has reimbursed just about all 1,900 passengers whose flights have been cancelled after the seizure of 4 of the provider’s planes earlier this month, however some prospects say they’re owed extra money.

Bailiffs repossessed Boeing 737 jets on which the low cost provider had overdue funds at airports in Toronto, Edmonton and Waterloo, Ont., within the early morning hours of March 11.

The seizures meant a number of flights that day needed to be cancelled, sending prospects scrambling to rebook on different airways.

Kelly Butt was scheduled to take a Flair flight along with her household from Toronto to Palm Springs, Calif. on the Saturday afternoon, however arrived roughly 30 hours later than deliberate because of the cancellation.

She and her husband, mom and two teenage children took two separate flights to Calgary late Saturday evening — Butt touched down at 12:30 a.m., two hours after the others — adopted by a midday flight to San Diego and a two-and-a-half hour drive in a rental automotive Sunday, she stated.

After quite a few emails to the corporate, Butt stated it agreed to reimburse her for the fares, however not the price of a misplaced Airbnb reservation and a automotive rental, nor to totally compensate her for the last-minute cancellation.

Flair informed her in an e mail she is “ineligible for any expenses associated with this flight change, including meals, hotel or the cost of transportation to a different city.”

The Montreal Convention, a multilateral treaty relevant to worldwide flights, states that airways are usually chargeable for damages brought on by delay of passengers, save for uncommon exceptions, in keeping with Air Passenger Rights advocacy group president Gabor Lukacs.

After The Canadian Press despatched questions on reimbursement Monday morning, Flair replied Monday night that a whole bunch extra refunds had been paid that day, with solely eight remaining.

“We do not want any customer to feel frustrated and so our teams have been working hard to get the reimbursements paid,” the airline stated in a press release.

“In most cases, it required manual tabulation by our customer service team. Any remaining amounts outstanding to customers should be paid out within the next 48 hours.”

No money has landed in Butt’s account up to now, she stated Tuesday, regardless of a pledge from the corporate on March 11 to reimburse all airfares inside one week.

“Seven days have come and gone. We haven’t seen a penny,” she stated in an interview.

Some prospects say Flair hasn’t compensated them sufficient, and take situation with the airline’s communication all through the ordeal.

In an preliminary notification to passengers alerting them to the cancelled flights, Flair characterised them as the results of “unanticipated maintenance delays.” That rationalization falls below a regulatory loophole that relieves airways of the requirement for compensation — distinct from reimbursement — if a delay or cancellation is prompted by a security concern.

Flair stated in a press release the e-mail was a “miscommunication,” and has informed prospects they’re owed $125 in compensation for his or her cancelled flights.

“The majority of the compensation has been paid out,” Flair stated.

However, Butt believes she and her fellow travellers are owed extra.

The Air Passenger Protection Regulations state that small carriers should compensate passengers $125 for delays of between three and 6 hours, $250 for delays of six to 9 hours and $500 for cancellations and delays of 9 hours or extra.

“Because we arrived a lot after nine hours to our destination … that is $500,” stated Butt. “But now they’re telling us no, no, it’s only $125 that you’re entitled to.”

“To this day, nobody from Flair has called us. They’ve emailed us a bunch, but it’s been in circles because it seems like nobody is actually reading the information that we have been giving them.”

Other Flair prospects have voiced comparable considerations on a Facebook group, although some have additionally reiterated the airline plans to refund them for rebooked flights.

The passenger rights constitution says travellers who obtain a refund are entitled to much less compensation. But Lukacs of Air Passenger Rights says that solely applies when the client rebooks with the identical airline or declines to rebook. If they go for journey with one other provider, the rule has no bearing, he stated.

“Airlines like to play this game of pushing the refund on passengers instead of providing alternate transportation,” he stated.

Lukacs additionally careworn that compensation points in Canadian aviation should not distinctive to Flair.

“It’s a broader, systemic problem.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 28, 2023.