It has been two days since WestJet’s mechanics ended their strike, however passengers are nonetheless grappling with cancelled flights and frustration.
“We had been beginning to surprise, ‘Are these re-bookings even actual?'” Laura Stewart instructed CBC Information Tuesday after WestJet rebooked and re-cancelled a number of of her flights over the lengthy weekend.
“We had been at midnight, actually.”
WestJet needed to park 72 per cent of its fleet after mechanics introduced a shock strike Saturday, which resulted in a slew of cancelled flights affecting at the very least 100,000 passengers. The strike ended Sunday, however the Calgary-based airline warned Monday that disruptions will proceed for a number of days.
WestJet mentioned it had cancelled 1,137 flights throughout Canada because of the strike as of Tuesday, together with 295 on Monday and 75 on Tuesday. It anticipated eight flights to be cancelled Wednesday.
“WestJet has taken vital strides to renew regular operations,” the corporate wrote in a information launch. “As of right this moment, 125 of WestJet’s 180 fleet at the moment are energetic throughout the airline’s community.
“Sadly, as July lengthy weekend is a peak journey interval throughout Canada, restricted availability exists each inside our community and thru different carriers, making choices for re-accommodation extraordinarily difficult.”
Meal vouchers not sufficient, says pissed off traveller
Stewart, 55, had been travelling together with her husband from Australia to Hawaii and was on the point of depart the Honolulu airport Friday when, she mentioned, she began listening to media experiences of the WestJet strike.
When the couple went to change planes in Vancouver Saturday morning, their flight again house to Regina was cancelled.
WestJet rebooked them on one other flight, which was additionally later cancelled, Stewart mentioned, so that they paid out of pocket for a lodge in Vancouver.
After one other cancellation the subsequent morning, they finally flew to Edmonton with the promise of a connecting flight to Regina. However then that flight was cancelled, too, which meant paying for one more lodge keep, this time in Edmonton.
Lastly, after one other delay, they made it again to Regina on Monday. Stewart says all that they had to indicate for the times of journey pains are two $15 meal vouchers.
“We had been very lucky that we’re able the place we might deal with the additional prices and we might deal with the delay.”
Which flights are cancelled Tuesday?
In the meantime, different WestJet clients are nonetheless stranded, together with Gary Tater, 56, and his girlfriend, who’ve been caught in Las Vegas since their flight again to Edmonton was cancelled Sunday.
“We’re very involved about attempting to get out of Vegas with the 4th of July vacation developing. Resort costs are going to undergo the roof,” Tater instructed CBC Information in an electronic mail.
Utilizing WestJet’s flight standing device, as of Tuesday morning, CBC Information counted at the very least 63 cancelled flights meant to depart out of Canadian airports that day. At 18, Calgary had probably the most cancellations, adopted by 10 cancelled flights out of Toronto and 6 out of Vancouver.
Additionally in B.C., there have been:
- Three cancelled flights out of Victoria.
- 4 out of Abbotsford.
- One out of Comox.
- One out of Nanaimo.
- One in Prince George.
- Two out of Kelowna.
On the Prairies, on prime of the 18 cancellations out of Calgary, there have been:
- 5 cancelled flights out of Edmonton.
- One cancelled flight out of Fort McMurray, Alta.
- One cancelled flight out of Grand Prairie, Alta.
- Three flights out of Regina had been cancelled.
- One out of Saskatoon was cancelled.
- Three cancelled flights out of Winnipeg.
In Ontario and additional East, there have been additionally cancellations in:
- One in Hamilton, Ont. (its solely flight Tuesday).
- One in London, Ont.
- Two in Thunder Bay, Ont.
- One in Quebec Metropolis (its solely flight Tuesday).
- Two cancelled flights out of Halifax.
- One cancelled flight out of Moncton, N.B.
A strike by WestJet mechanics has ended and workers are again to work, however travellers are nonetheless scrambling to search out different preparations because the airline works to get its operations again to regular.
In case your flight is delayed or cancelled, you can be notified by electronic mail if the corporate has your electronic mail tackle on file, in response to WestJet’s visitor updates web page.
It’s also possible to test your flight standing on the corporate web site, by flight quantity or by airport.
What are your choices?
WestJet says in case your flight is delayed or cancelled, it is going to make “each effort to get you to your ultimate vacation spot, together with transferring visitors to different airways the place accessible.”
In an announcement posted to its web site on Friday, WestJet says there are “restricted re-accommodation choices accessible,” suggesting it could be troublesome for some individuals to make alternate plans to get the place they are going.
In its Tuesday replace, WestJet wrote that, in compliance with the Air Passenger Safety Laws, “within the occasion reaccommodation with WestJet or another airline is not accessible inside 48 hours of a visitor’s scheduled departure, visitors are entitled to request a refund to their unique type of fee.”
On X Tuesday morning, the corporate wrote that “if on-line administration isn’t attainable to your reserving, our Contact Centre is out there 24/7 at 1-888-937-8538.”
However Tater, in Vegas, says attempting to achieve WestJet has proved practically unattainable.
“Now we have spent greater than 16 hours on maintain with them since Sunday night time and every time these calls have been minimize off earlier than we had been capable of communicate to somebody,” he wrote.
“We’re extraordinarily pissed off.”
Even after a strike by WestJet mechanics was known as off on Sunday night time, CBC Information spoke to a lot of pissed off travellers at YVR Worldwide Airport on Monday afternoon.
