One Alberta couple says passport concerns have caused a “torturous ” final week of their vacation to Saint Lucia after WestJet offered them a legally impossible route home. Elaine Schulz-Charlery is a Canadian citizen with a Canadian passport. Her husband, Timothy Charlery, is a Canadian permanent resident with a Saint Lucia — an island nation in the Caribbean — passport. The couple lives in the Edmonton area. In January, they booked flights through WestJet for a four-week trip to Saint Lucia that began at the beginning of July. That trip was extended even further when their Sunday return flight was cancelled due to the strike action of the union representing some 4,400 WestJet flight attendants. “It’s a bit torturous. I spent 13 hours on hold with them the last time I called (an agent), and I can’t imagine it’s any better. The network down in Saint Lucia isn’t very good,” Schulz-Charlery told CTV News Edmonton on Monday from a spotty video call. WestJet was offering its more than 200,000 affected passengers free one-time rebooks, reroutes or accommodations where applicable during the long weekend disruptions. The western Canadian airline offered the couple a new flight that would go through Atlanta, which Schulz-Charlery said was not feasible because her husband doesn’t have a U.S. Visa. Their other option was to book a flight through Air Canada. Schulz-Charlery says the WestJet agent she spoke with told her those two chocies “fulfilled (WestJet’s) legal obligation.” “(The agent) really tried to get me to agree to them refunding my ticket and finding my own way, and I was like, ‘I’m definitely not doing that,’” she said. “The Air Canada flight was showing, I think, almost $2,000 per person to get home from Saint Lucia.” The couple’s concern is now timing as Charlery says he does not have vacation booked to accommodate the delay and Schulz-Charlery must return home to care for elderly parents. “We have family and work responsibilities … We have stuff we need to do. How can you leave us stranded here for over a week when you’re supposed to get us back within two days?” Schulz-Charlery said. On Monday, WestJet and CUPE local 8125 president Alia Hussain told Calgary reporters the parties had reached a tentative deal. Flight attendants would have 30 days to ratify the agreement. Contract talks had been ongoing in Calgary since January, with WestJet and the CUPE WestJet component at odds over wage increases and the cabin crew’s claim of unpaid ground work. Affected workers walked off the job early Sunday morning. There was no public timeline available Monday for when the airline would resume normal operations and schedule, but flights were slowly beginning to resume by Monday afternoon. Schulz-Charlery said the couple still had no path forward getting home as of Monday and would likely need to wait until next Sunday for an available WestJet flight. “We definitely weren’t expecting to be here a week longer than we wanted to be,” she said. “I’m wondering if I need to start building a house here in Saint Lucia. I live here now.” A WestJet spokesperson told CTV News Edmonton the airline was resuming operations and entering the “recovery phase following a labour disruption.” “Flights have begun to operate; however, the impacts of the disruption continue as the airline works to restore the network. Guests are encouraged to continue checking the status of their flights before heading to the airport,” they said in a statement. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Shelby Clarke and The Canadian Press
