‘Hostage to a ticket’: Passengers are left in limbo as Air Transat faces the prospect of flight suspensions

Playing null of undefined

CTV National News: Air Transat faces 'existential crisis' as pilot strike deadline nears

Stranded Air Transat passenger speaks with customer service at Pearson Airport as pilot strike looms

Where Air Transat passengers stand amid a possible strike by pilots

CTV National News: How Canadian travellers can avoid turbulence from Air Transat strike

What Air Transat passengers should do if they become stranded

Pilots have not had a contract update in ten years: Union president

Here's what steps to take if Air Transat cancels your flights

Amid the labour dispute between Air Transat and the Air Line Pilots Association that represents 750 pilots, passengers are nervous about their flight plans if the strike goes through.

Ellen Braganca, a Toronto resident who’s supposed to travel on Friday to India for a wedding — with connections in Lisbon and New Delhi — has received no further information from the airline, putting her on edge, and her travel plans at risk.

Braganca told CTV News Toronto the first time she heard about the strike notice was on Dec. 3.

She said she immediately contacted the airline through an email about her situation.

• What’s your best move if you booked with Air Transat? Here’s what one expert says

“I asked them for a refund, as opposed to a credit, because a credit doesn’t really help me at all, because I’m still need that money to be able to pay for new tickets,” she said.

“Each day that I wait is a day that (the rates for) flights to India are going up. I want to inform the other airline from Lisbon to Delhi that I’m not going to be able to take my flights.”

Braganca also has a visa for India that is in danger of running out if she doesn’t travel there in the allotted time.

“I did all the right things as a passenger,” she said. “We’re probably going to lose over $4,000.”

Braganca has repeatedly called the airline’s customer service in the last few days, but has not been given any information that could help her manage her flight schedules.

When she called on Monday, the representative told her he could do nothing to help her and that he was going to “hang up” on, Braganca added.

“You guys want to help me, and you’re going to hang up on me because you can’t find a solution,” she said.

Braganca added that the airline has not updated its website with any new information regarding the strike action, which makes it difficult for passengers.

“We try and do all the right things as passengers, and you’re not giving us the courtesy of making be able to make our decisions,” she added. “Being held hostage to a ticket … We’re going to be in a situation over Christmas time. I think I’m almost in tears. I’m so upset.”

• Air Transat passengers face uncertainty as pilots move closer to a strike

‘How are we going to get home?’

Shenifa Lahani, another Toronto resident, is currently on an Air Transat vacation package in Punta Cana, with a return flight scheduled for Dec. 12.

Lahani told CTV News Toronto that the potential strike affecting her flight has caused her confusion and stress, and despite repeated attempts to contact the airline, she has not received any clear information about the status of her flight.

“We’ve been on this emotional roller coaster of ‘Well, what’s going to happen with our flight on Thursday? How are we going to get home?’” she said. “We haven’t really heard directly from Air Transat, in terms of an email or anything.”

When Ladhani contacted customer service, she was directed to the airline’s representative at her hotel, which led to more confusion.

The representative told her Monday that she was supposed to be on a flight back to Toronto that evening, only to later tell her that her flight was later.

“Planning for the day to day has now become more difficult for our trip,” Ladhani said.

She keeps checking the app on her phone but all it shows her is that her flight is scheduled for Thursday.

“There’s no update in it. It’s just leaving us in a limbo,” Ladhani said. “We don’t know when we’re going to get home. We don’t know if we’re going to have to stay extra. How much are we going to have to pay out of pocket.”

“I wish they would just communicate with us better, more directly.”

Meanwhile, the airline released a statement Monday afternoon saying that the flights on Monday have operated as planned, with some travellers who were scheduled to fly on Dec. 10 reaching their destinations due to four additional flights added.

“For now, flights scheduled for Dec. 8 operate as planned,” the airline said. “Starting today, we are launching a special program to bring back as many travelers as possible.”

It also stated that the negotiations with the union representing the pilots continued throughout the night and progress was made.

“Our priority remains the same: to bring our travellers back home and limit the impact on their travel plans,” the airline said.

• Three things to know about Air Transat flight suspensions ahead of strike deadline

‘At the airline’s mercy’

However, airline passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs told CP24 Sunday that although the airline may offer their passengers various other options, the passengers have no obligation to accept.

“I recommend they stick to what is in the contract and the law,” Lukacs said. “As a passenger if you accept some of these goodwill gestures, you are at the airline’s mercy, you don’t have to accept a refund either, you can insist to be put on a competitor airline on the original date or as close as possible.”

He advised that passengers should take a screenshot of the cancellation and give Air Transat a couple hours to rebook them on a different flight, according to the law.

“If Air Transat doesn’t use that chance to rebook you on its own or competitor airline in accordance with the law, then you buy yourself a ticket and then make Air Transat pay for that extra expense plus any other damages you incur because Air Transat failed its legal obligation to buy you a ticket - it is their obligation to buy you a ticket, not for you to run after them,” Lukacs said.