WestJet ordered to pay passengers $2K after offering only $16 for flight diversion

A pilot taxis a Westjet Boeing 737-700 plane to a gate after arriving at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on February 3, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered WestJet to refund a family in full for their diverted flight and compensate them for associated costs.

The passengers, referred to as RA, SB and MB in the decision because MB is a child, were on a flight from Hawaii to Vancouver in April 2023 when it was diverted to Victoria due to smoke from a volcano, according to the tribunal.

The applicants claimed that WestJet agreed to refund their flights, but later refused to do so, and that the airline also agreed to pay for their hotel, travel and food expenses that resulted from the flight change, but only reimbursed part of the costs.

In his decision dated Sept. 17, tribunal member Peter Mennie was tasked with ruling whether WestJet owed the group a further $430.80 for hotel, travel and food costs and whether it owed $1,395.18 as a refund for the flights. He ultimately ruled WestJet must pay both.

The flight

After the family landed in Victoria the evening of April 13, 2023, they received an email from WestJet with three options: take a flight at 12 p.m. from Victoria to Vancouver, choose a different flight, or request a refund for the “flight-only itinerary.” They chose the refund, and WestJet sent an email confirming that request was being processed.

The decision says the group followed up with WestJet multiple times on the matter and received contradictory responses, and an employee eventually told them their refund wasn’t approved.

According to the decision, WestJet argued that the family is only entitled to $16.17 for their flights, because it says it’s only required to refund the “unused portion of the applicants’ tickets.”

WestJet calculated that the distance from Hawaii to Victoria was 98.84 per cent of the total route from Hawaii to Vancouver, and therefore the “unused portion” of the group’s tickets amounted to 1.16 per cent of the total ticket cost, or $16.17.

“WestJet argues that it never guaranteed a refund amount in its email to the applicants so it should only pay what it must under the (air passenger protection regulations),” the decision reads.

The passengers, meanwhile, argued that WestJet’s email offered a full refund, not just for the “unused portion” of their tickets.

“I agree with the applicants that the plain and ordinary meaning of a refund of the ‘flight-only itinerary’ is the full cost of the applicants’ flights. So, I find that WestJet’s email offered to refund the full cost of the applicants’ flights,” Mennie wrote.

WestJet also argued its refund offer was not enforceable because the group didn’t give something valuable to make the contract so, and the tribunal disagreed.

“WestJet provided three options and the applicants chose a refund. In doing so, the applicants gave up their right to a second flight. This was a detriment to the applicants and a benefit to WestJet which no longer had to fly the applicants to Vancouver. I find that this was good consideration which makes WestJet’s refund offer enforceable,” Mennie said.

The hotel, travel and food

The applicants said a WestJet employee on the plane told them to go to the airline desk in Victoria, as there were hotel rooms reserved for families with young children.

“The applicants say they and other families with young children waited over an hour at the WestJet desk, which was not staffed. At around 12:30 a.m., a second WestJet employee arrived and told the applicants that there were no hotel rooms so they should book their own accommodation,” the decision reads.

That employee reportedly told the family WestJet would reimburse their expenses – something the airline did not deny in its submissions. The passengers ultimately paid $784.90 for a hotel room, meals and taxis.

WestJet reimbursed the family $354.10 for those costs, citing airline policies as the reason they did not give the full amount.

The airline argued regulations do not require it to reimburse hotel, travel and food costs if the delay is due to causes outside of its control.

“(WestJet) says it paid $354.10 as a gesture of goodwill to partially reimburse the applicants,” the decision says.

However, Mennie reasoned that the WestJet employee promised the family that they would be compensated for the costs, without mentioning any policy limitations, and the applicants accepted that offer, and therefore “WestJet is bound by its employee’s statement and must reimburse the applicants’ costs.”

WestJet also brought up that it didn’t want to pay the costs as that would “make it an insurer for passengers regardless of whether the delay was within its control,” but Mennie said if WestJet wants to avoid paying in full for things like hotels and food it needs to be explicit with its passengers.

In the end, the tribunal ordered WestJet to pay $430.80 for the remaining costs and $1,395.18 for the flight tickets. Added up with pre-judgement interest and CRT fees, the applicants received $2,080.81 in total.