Canada’s transport regulator has denied a refund for a couple who cancelled their 2020 WestJet flight in the throes of the pandemic — even though the airline announced it was cancelling the journey first.
The Canadian Transportation Agency sided with WestJet in a recent confidential decision obtained by Daily Hive, preventing the couple from being refunded in cash for their Spring 2020 trip to Florida that never happened.
The couple did not want to be named or quoted in this article, but confirmed they cancelled their flights on March 17 or 18, 2020 — a day or two after WestJet’s then-president and CEO Ed Sims announced the airline would be halting all international flights scheduled to leave after March 22, 2020.
The couple’s flight was supposed to leave on March 28, nearly a week after WestJet suspended international operations.
However, according to WestJet, Sims’ cancellation announcement didn’t amount to an actual cancellation of the route.
“At the time of cancellation, both flights on the itinerary were scheduled to operate, confirming a voluntary cancellation and therefore is bound by the fare guidelines,” the airline said in its CTA submission obtained by Daily Hive.
Air passenger rights advocate Gábor Lukács said WestJet’s argument that the couple initiated the cancellation is a blatant disregard of the truth, given that the airline had already decided to scrap international flights on March 16.
“It’s committing fraud,” Lukács alleged. “The very body that is supposed to have specialized expertise, they are turning a blind eye to this fraud.”
He called WestJet’s argument “bogus” to suggest the passengers wouldn’t be eligible for a refund for cancelling a non-existent flight.
“There’s no doubt that the airline cancelled this flight,” he said.
But the CTA didn’t see it that way.
In a December 2023 letter addressed to the couple, the transport regulator said they hadn’t provided substantial enough evidence to indicate they’d be eligible for a refund.
“Although WestJet announced a route suspension, this does not change the terms and conditions of the ticket when the passenger initiates the cancellation first,” the CTA’s letter said.
The couple received a travel voucher instead of a cash refund.
The CTA recently began publishing the results of airline complaints online but doesn’t make decisions available in their entirety — only the result paired with the flight number.