An Ottawa man stuck in Cancun with his family says he was told by WestJet that it couldn’t rebook their flights with another carrier, even though there was space and it would get them home quicker, as flight disruptions for travellers continue following a one-day strike by flight attendants. WestJet initially rebooked Kristopher Persad’s Toronto to Ottawa flight but not the first leg from Cancun to Toronto. His return flights were scheduled for Monday, but the new booking would have the family not return to Ottawa until Saturday. “I was in limbo with little to no guidance in terms of what was next. Apart from the initial cancellation email, which said they would provide guidance within 24 hours, which they didn’t,” Persad said. He says he spent hours on the phone with the airline on Monday and Tuesday to sort it out. Persad found flights on another carrier that would get them back to Canada sooner than what WestJet initially arranged but was told by an agent they couldn’t book with other airlines. “When I eventually, on my second six-hour call, got to the point of us looking at flights, that agent was effectively trying to convince me that WestJet could only book with their partner airlines. They couldn’t book with other airlines, which I could see available,” he said. “According to them, they don’t have the mechanics or the mechanisms to actually do a booking with a third party.” Gábor Lukács, president of Air Passenger Rights, pointed to regulations that say airlines have to rebook passengers on any flight by any airline, including at another airport, if there is an option nearby, if they cannot rebook you within 48 hours of the original departure time. “WestJet is required to use its corporate credit card to purchase passengers’ tickets on another airline in such situations,” Lukács said. “Passengers should stand their ground, incur expenses needed, make WestJet pay for it later. The other concern I have, of course, is that the federal government should be cracking down on WestJet misleading passengers and refusing to comply with what [are] clear legal obligations.” CTV News has reached out to WestJet for comment. Persad said after multiple calls over several days, WestJet was able to rebook them on an earlier flight with a connection that will see the family depart Cancun on Thursday and arrive in Ottawa early Friday. Airline offered $250 in compensation The family is spending an extra three nights at the resort in Mexico. Persad said WestJet emailed on Tuesday to say they’d get $250 in compensation. “We have to think about meals. Where are we going to be? How are we going to pay for all of this? So, it’s been a really big challenge for us to kind of mentally handle all that that’s in front of us and to eventually get rebooked,” Persad said. “I want to be clear that WestJet did eventually rebook me. It took a lot of prompting from me because I had to get on the phone a number of times.” WestJet says it has returned to normal operations as it continues to re-book travellers whose flights were cancelled due to a work stoppage this past weekend. The airline says it is operating all its scheduled flights on Wednesday. With files from The Canadian Press
