B.C. couple turns to small claims court seeking compensation over cancelled WestJet flight

A couple is pursuing a claim against WestJet in British Columbia small claims court after the airline cancelled their flight last month. 

According to a notice of claim filed in B.C. provincial court on Tuesday, Maria and Antonio Dente booked round-trip tickets from Vancouver to Palm Springs, Calif., for themselves and their three children.

Their flight to Palm Springs departed on Dec. 15 as scheduled, according to the claim. WestJet cancelled their Dec. 23 flight back to Vancouver, the claim says, and failed to provide alternate travel arrangements.

The couple booked tickets with Air Canada and returned to Vancouver on Dec. 26.

On Dec. 22, WestJet said it was cancelling flights out of B.C. and Ontario due to winter storms ahead of the busy holiday weekend. The airline later said there were 104 flight cancellations on Dec. 23 due to the storm in B.C.

The Dentes are asking for just over $5,600. The amount includes additional hotel and meal costs as well as the price difference between their original return tickets and their one-way Air Canada tickets. 

The couple is among the Canadians who have turned to the courts to seek compensation for delayed or cancelled flights rather than waiting for their complaints to be processed by the agency responsible for enforcing compensation rules.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) — a quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator tasked with settling disputes between airlines and customers — has been dealing with a backlog of air passenger complaints since new regulations came into place in 2019.

Those regulations require an airline to compensate passengers when a flight is delayed or cancelled for a reason that is within the airline's control.

CTA officials told a parliamentary committee in November that the agency is attempting to resolve more than 30,000 complaints. It added that some complainants could be kept waiting for their cases to be resolved for as long as 18 months.

Court claim risks

Sylvie De Bellefeuille, a lawyer with the Quebec-based advocacy group Option consommateurs, told CBC News last month that going to small claims court is a gamble.

She said that there is no guarantee the judgment will be in the applicant's favour. Others who went the small claims route told CBC News that bringing the claims were at times not simple.

De Bellefeuille also said that if an airline decides to challenge a claim in court, it might take years for the case to get through the system.

'Our government is not hiding': transport minister

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says he's looking to strengthen air passenger protection regulations.

While Alghabra told members of the House of Commons transport committee that extreme winter weather triggered the widespread disruptions, he pinned the main problem on airlines for leaving passengers in the dark as they tried to rebook trips and get answers when their plans were upended.

"I want to tell you that our government is not hiding,'' the minister said to committee members on Jan. 12. "We are going to assume our responsibilities, and the industry must assume theirs.''

WestJet vice-president Andrew Gibbons, who oversees external affairs, told the committee that holiday-season problems showed the airline it must communicate better with its passengers and improve its baggage service, with many travellers complaining about lost belongings.

The executive pushed back against MPs' assertions that the holiday travel headaches Canadians experienced are reason to strengthen air passenger protection regulations.