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

MONTREAL –

Flair Airlines stated this week that it has reimbursed nearly all 1,900 passengers whose flights have been cancelled after the seizure of 4 of the service’s planes earlier this month, however some clients say they’re owed extra money — whereas others say no refunds have come via in any respect.

Bailiffs repossessed Boeing 737 jets on which the low cost service 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 clients scrambling to rebook on different airways, or to surrender fully.

Carrie Kennedy was on the gate with two pals for a Toronto-Halifax flight — all three had booked day off work for a March break getaway — when the cancellation was introduced.

“It was supposed to be her first plane ride,” the Barrie, Ont., resident stated of her buddy’s six-year-old daughter. “She was bawling her eyes out. ‘Why cannot I’m going see grandma? I need to see grandma.’

“She was heartbroken,” Kennedy added.

The group has tried and did not obtain any refunds for the cancelled journey, she stated. The airline had rebooked them on a flight 5 days later than scheduled, with a return flight at some point after that, which they declined.

“It was a friggin’ nightmare,” Kennedy stated. “We don’t have loads of money.”

After The Canadian Press requested Flair about reimbursements Monday morning, the airline replied that night that a whole lot 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 an announcement.

“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 traveller Kelly Butt’s account thus far, nevertheless.

The Toronto-area resident was scheduled to take a Flair flight along with her household from Toronto to Palm Springs, Calif., on Saturday afternoon, however arrived roughly 30 hours later than deliberate as a result of cancellation.

“Seven days have come and gone. We haven’t seen a penny,” she stated, noting a pledge from the corporate on March 11 to reimburse all airfares inside one week.

She and her husband, mom and two teenage children took two totally different planes to Calgary late Saturday night time. 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 automobile Sunday.

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 automobile 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 typically responsible for damages brought on by a delay of passengers, save for uncommon exceptions, stated Air Passenger Rights advocacy group president Gabor Lukacs.

Other clients say Flair hasn’t compensated them sufficient, and take problem with the airline’s communication all through the ordeal.

In an preliminary notification to passengers alerting them to the cancelled flights, Flair characterised the disruption as the results of “unanticipated maintenance delays.” That clarification falls beneath 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 an announcement the e-mail was a “miscommunication,” and has informed clients they’re owed $125 in compensation for his or her cancelled flights.

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

But Kyle Stevenson, who was slated to fly house to Toronto from Palm Springs on the day of the airplane seizures, stated he has been informed over the telephone and by e mail that the March 11 flight was cancelled “for safety purposes” and that no compensation is owed him.

He stated Flair provided him a refund, however not reimbursement for the a lot pricier rebooking he made with United Airlines in an effort to get again house the next day — a lot sooner than the return journey Flair had booked for him every week later.

Stevenson and Butt imagine they and their fellow travellers are owed extra.

The Air Passenger Protection Regulations state that small carriers should compensate passengers with $125 for delays stretching 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 clients 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 shopper rebooks with the identical airline or declines to rebook. If they go for journey with one other service, 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 pressured that compensation points in Canadian aviation aren’t distinctive to Flair.

“It’s a broader, systemic problem.”

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