WestJet strike: Why you may want to think twice before changing a flight | 24CA News
WestJet says it’s providing “additional flexibility” to air travellers forward of the potential strike motion by the airline’s pilots to offer “peace of mind.”
But a client advocate is cautioning passengers about accepting the provide.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents roughly 1,600 flight crew at WestJet and its subsidiary Swoop, issued a 72-hour strike discover Monday to the airline’s administration and the federal authorities. The strike motion will start at 3 a.m. Eastern (1 a.m. Mountain) on Friday except a deal is reached, the union mentioned.
With the strike looming, WestJet issued its personal assertion on Tuesday providing choices to passengers trying to change or cancel their flights or WestJet Vacations if booked between May 15 and May 21, utilized to all potential fares.
Among the choices are a $0 one-time charge waiver supplied for adjustments or cancellations.
For those that resolve to vary their vacation spot, the airline says the shopper would pay any distinction in fares, however a refund could be made if prospects determined to cancel the reserving altogether.
But Air Passenger Rights president Gabor Lukacs warns these gives will not be as useful in comparison with what passengers may obtain and they need to concentrate on what rights they have already got.
“It’s really a way of trying to convince passengers to not avail themselves of their rights. You may want to do this if you think that it will be less stressful for you, but WestJet is trying to game the system,” Lukacs mentioned in an interview with Global News.
Under the Air Passenger Protections Regulations, an airline should provide various journey preparations if a flight is cancelled in the identical class as initially booked freed from cost utilizing a “reasonable route” inside 48 hours of the unique departure time. The passenger should even be rebooked both on the subsequent obtainable flight by the airline or one they’ve a business settlement with.
According to Lukacs, there’s a “sequence” that passengers ought to contemplate earlier than in search of out the choices WestJet is offering.
“Wait until the flight is cancelled. Give WestJet a chance to rebook you. If they refuse to do so or fail to do so, or if they refuse to rebook you on flights of other airlines, for example, even though they don’t have their own flight within 48 hours, then you can go and buy your own ticket and then you send the bill to WestJet,” he mentioned, including in the event that they nonetheless received’t pay the invoice, an individual can take it to small claims court docket.
“I would say, don’t be a pushover. Stand your ground. You bought a ticket, you paid good money weeks and months in advance for a flight on a given date.”
As the strike inches nearer, Flair Airlines introduced on Tuesday that it will be including further flights to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton starting on the vacation weekend, saying it “hopes to help Canadians impacted by the WestJet pilots strike.”
Asked if it will do the identical, Air Canada mentioned in an announcement that its fleet was already absolutely deployed and “we have minimal ability to increase capacity further,” nonetheless, the airline mentioned it was ready to help. It cautioned whereas it will try to accommodate prospects in search of new bookings, it “is to be expected that demand will exceed capacity.”
WestJet itself additionally took motion in response to the strike saying it had issued a lockout discover on Monday, including it was getting ready to work on a decreased schedule and would “proactively” handle adjustments and cancellations.
“The decision to issue a lockout notice, in response to the actions taken by the union (Monday), was not one that was made lightly, and we sincerely regret the inconvenience and uncertainty this continues to cause for our guests,” the assertion learn.
The airline says individuals who booked immediately with WestJet or Swoop will obtain communication by way of e-mail, whereas those that booked with a journey agent or a 3rd occasion on-line might want to contact them immediately.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
