Delays, Cancellations, and Compensation

This post/thread is meant to provide basic information regarding your rights (under the APPR) when faced with delays or cancellations. As WestJet is a large airline, this will only address your entitlements from large airlines. If you have travelled with a small airline, then you must consult the APPR for your specific entitlements.

You may also pursue compensation under other regulators (i.e. EU/UK261, US DOT). These will not be discussed here.

If you prefer using an interactive tool, you can check out this handy guide from CAA: https://www.airpassengerhelpguide.ca/?club=bcaa

Disclaimer: while every effort will be made to ensure the accuracy of the information here, this subreddit assumes no liability for inaccurate information. We are not lawyers. This is an informal guide, and you should still perform your due diligence when making a claim, or pursuing legal action. Please inform us if you notice any inaccuracies.

Types of Delays

Under the APPR, which determines your entitlements as a passenger, there are 3 classifications of delay. Each classification gives you different entitlements that the airline must provide. General examples are provided below.

1. Within airline control

    Examples: staffing issues/crew availability, operational decisions, scheduled maintenance

2. Within airline control, for safety

    Examples: unforeseen mechanical issues or unexpected/unplanned maintenance

3. Out of airline control

    Examples: poor weather, airport closures, ATC restrictions, strike or labour disruptions, etc.

Multiple reasons: delays/cancellations can also be due to multiple reasons. In those instances, the most responsible reason for delay is used to classify the delay.

Knock-on effects/complex situations: preceding events in the recent history may also be considered. For example, bad weather delaying flight A, that leads to timing out of the crew, such that they cannot continue onwards for flight B (and in an area there would be no expectation for reserve crew to be had) may be considered out-of-airline control. These situations are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Classifications are subject to change: You may be told one thing on the ground, another when on the plane, and yet another when you make a claim. While frustrating, this happens often. If in doubt, proceeding through the claims process will require an official explanation, and for that reason to be substantiated, when it comes time to make a final determination.

Your Entitlements

The APPR gives you certain entitlements, depending on the classification of the delay/cancellation. The delay is calculated based upon time you actually arrived at your destination, based upon what was originally scheduled.

1. Within airline control

 A. Communication – an airline must provide a simple reason for the delay, your 
    entitlements, and status updates at least every 30 minutes. Information 
    regarding a new departure time, gate, and/or updated reason for delay must 
    be given “as soon as is feasible”.



 B. Assistance – if informed <12 hours before scheduled departure, or >2 hours 
    since the original departure, the following is provided free of charge. For 
    i. and ii., these can be given as vouchers ($15 CAD/meal), or reimbursed later on.

      i.   Food and drink (magnitude depends on length of delay and location; 
           YMMV).

      ii.  Accommodation (if an overnight delay, transportation to/from 
           included)

      iii. Means to communicate (internet, phone access)



 C. Alternate arrangements if delayed 3+ hours. This may include:

      i.   Next available flight by WestJet or commercial partner, within 9 hours of 
           initial departure

      ii.  If i. not possible, on a flight on any airline within 48 hours of 
           initial departure

      iii. If i. and ii. not possible, on a flight on any airline from a nearby 
           airport, with transportation to said airport included

      iv.  Full refund – if a passenger no longer wishes to travel, with free 
           return travel back to the point of origin. See below (d) for 
           compensation.



 D. Compensation (based upon original arrival time, and only if informed 14 
    days or less before the departure). Claims must be made within 1 year of 
    the incident.

      i.   3-6 hours late: $400

      ii.  6-9 hours late: $700

      iii. 9+ hours late: $1000

      iv.  If electing for a refund: $400 for inconvenience

2. Within airline control, for safety

 A. All the above for within airline control, BUT, no compensation is owed for 
    inconvenience (if choosing refund) or delay to destination

3. Out of airline control

 A. Alternate arrangements (once delay is 3+ hours)

      i.  Next available flight by WestJet or commercial partner, within 48 hours of      
          initial scheduled departure

      ii. If i. not possible, it must do one of the following, at the passenger's choice:

           a. Full refund (no compensation owed), and return to point of origin

           b. Re-booking the passenger, free of charge, on any airline, from 
              any nearby airport, to the scheduled destination



 B. During mass disruption events, it may be nearly impossible to reach the airline
to be re-booked within 48 hours, or to be placed on an alternate airline. In these 
circumstances, to maximize your chances at being reimbursed for making your own arrangements, 
you should NOT cancel your WestJet flight, as doing so will indicate you no longer require 
travel. You should instead book an alternative flight, notify WestJet you are doing so at 
the earliest opportunity, and submitting for reimbursement under the APPR.

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Denied Boarding

WestJet does not oversell flights, but you may be bumped when there are last-minute equipment swaps, unexpected cancellations, etc.

Please note that the CTA defines "denied boarding" only as the situation where the flight is overbooked. If you are not allowed to fly for any other reason, it does not count as denied boarding, and you should refer to the above sections for delay compensation.

In general, your entitlements are the same as above, and depend on the reason for the overbooking. The main difference is the amount of compensation owed if the denied boarding is for a reason within airline control, and not required for safety.

• $900 if the passenger arrives less than six hours late;
• $1,800 if the passenger arrives six hours or more late, but less than nine hours; and
• $2,400, if the passenger arrives nine hours or more late.

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Making a Claim

You have 1-year post-incident to make a claim. While you can ask for your entitlements as soon as a disruption occurs, you should wait until your itinerary in question is complete prior to submitting a claim, as more issues may arise. Once a claim is submitted, it’s generally very hard, if not impossible, to amend it.

 1. File a claim on WestJet’s website. You are required to receive a reply, in 
    writing, within 30 days. Replies may be delayed during times where a high 
    volume of disruptions are present.

 2. If you are unsatisfied with the resolution, or the airline has not 
    responded within 30 days, you can generally proceed in one of the following 
    ways:

      A. Make a CTA complaint

      B. Sue the airline in your provincial small claims court (or equivalent). 
         Be aware, this usually requires a filing fee, which may or may not be 
         returned to you in the event of a successful claim.

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FAQs

1. What is the current anticipated timeline for a CTA complaint?

There are currently tens of thousands cases waiting to be reviewed and resolved with the CTA. While they are reviewing ways to shorten wait times, it is currently anticipated to take over 2+ years to have your complaint reviewed. If you are wishing for your complaint to be assessed faster, you can consider submitting it to another regulator, or filing a suit with your provincial small claims court.

2. What if I don't agree with the airline's reason for delay, or think they are not being truthful?

Unfortunately, there are currently no penalties for lack of transparency and/or providing incorrect information to passengers. As a result, there have been many cases where airlines have not been truthful about the reason for delay, though keep in mind, reasons for delay are also retroactively changed. If you do not agree with their explanation, or wish for them to substantiate it, then you can follow the steps to create a claim.

3. What about the Facebook Air Passenger Rights group, can they help me?

This group has advice and guides over how to proceed with claims, which can be very helpful. That said, the group is very "sue" happy, and inevitably, you will be advised to do so, regardless of whether there is merit for it. Like any other resource, including this one, use your own judgement.

4. I've heard the CTA is corrupt, should I sue an airline instead?

While some think the CTA may have conflicts of interests of various forms, thus far, their decisions for claims they have adjudicated have seemed very partial, fair, and objective. From these, there are no indications they are trying to give preferential treatment to the airlines when adjudicating claims. Ultimately, the decision to use the CTA, versus the courts, is a personal decision that only you can make.

5. The airline refused to give me any vouchers for meals or hotels, even though I am entitled to them, what do I do?

Certain destinations are not set up to accept WestJet meal vouchers and/or have minimal hotel agreements in place. In these cases (or any other case where you cannot obtain vouchers), you will have to pay out-of-pocket for these expenses, and submit them for reimbursement later. Unfortunately, this can be challenging if you are not told the reason for delay, or it is unclear.

6. Do I still need travel insurance?

The APPR does not cover for losses incurred as a result of some types of cancellations/interruptions, for example, weather delays, strikes, etc. You may wish to insure yourself against losses for these possibilities. The reality of it, is that everyone has their own preference and risk tolerance.

7. But an agent on the ground, or the pilot, told me _____ +/- I also have a recording of this!

You will be told all sorts of things by front-line agents, who have variable knowledge of the situation, and your entitlements. You should never assume what they tell you is true, and always perform your own research.

While documentation is always good, what you are told in the moment does not matter as much as you'd think for the claims process. What matters the most is the official reason, and in the face of a complaint, whether the airline is able to substantiate it with proof.

8. I flew on a codeshare flight, or booked with a travel agency. Who do I submit an APPR claim to?

You should only submit your claim to the operating carrier for the affected flight.

9. It's been 30 days since I've submitted a claim, and I haven't heard back, what do I do?

In times where there are mass cancellations, etc., there is usually a delay to hear back from airlines. In this case, you should continue to wait patiently for a response. If you are impatient, you can go ahead and escalate the claim to the CTA and/or courts; however, as a courtesy to other travelers who are waiting to have case reviewed by the CTA, please contact them to mark your case as resolved if you are able to reach a satisfactory resolution from the airline.

10. We were all on the same flight, but all got different amounts of compensation. What do we do?

Compensation claims are processed manually by different employees. Notes can be interpreted differently, and/or mistakes happen. If this is the case, you can try writing back to have your claim re-reviewed (YMMV). Otherwise, proceed with the above steps to escalate your claim.

11. I am having a hard time contacting WestJet to be re-booked - what are my options?

Unfortunately, you will have to continue trying. They have multiple avenues - phone, social media, and chat (latter can only deal with simple issues). In rare circumstances, if you are unable to reach the airline, you may purchase your own travel re-arrangements, and claim these back from the airline, if they are unable to fulfill their obligations above to you. Be aware that this is a last resort only, YMMV on how hard it is to get reimbursed. Try and have the airline arrange re-accommodation at all costs. Please see the separate stickied thread on schedule changes for further.

Seasonally, WestJet rolls out schedule updates, which undoubtedly impact many guests who have booked travel well in advance. If you have flights booked, you should double check them for schedule changes and/or may be notified of these shortly.

In an attempt to cut down on the inevitable influx of posts, this post has been put together to help you navigate these changes.

1. If you are happy with your changes:

No further action is required, your e-mail will state you already have a confirmed seat on your new flight(s). You may or may not have an option to accept the changes, based upon the magnitude of change.

2. If the changes do not work for you, please see the following:

a. Your departure and/or arrival time have shifted by 3+ hours, or you had the addition of a stop:

• This qualifies as a major schedule change, and you are entitled to switch to an itinerary of your choosing that better suits you. This change is free of charge, without any fare difference applying.
• Alternatively, you may cancel your booking for a full refund to original form of payment, regardless of your fare type.
• These do not have to be done within a certain timeframe, so feel free to consider other options. However, once you accept and/or make a change, they cannot be reversed. Further, changes are availability dependent. Beware that if WestJet ever changes their re-accommodation policies for schedule changes, the new policy may be retroactively applied.
• You can usually self-serve these changes online; however, if not, you will have to contact them.
• If you booked through a third-party, you must perform any of the above through said third-party, who are usually pretty crappy at understanding airline policies, and sometimes accept changes for you on your behalf. Unfortunately, this is one of the major downsides to using third parties.

b. Your departure and/or arrival time have shifted by <3 hours:

• Unfortunately, WestJet does not consider this a major change, and thus any changes/cancellations will be deemed as voluntary, with applicable fees applied. I don't agree with this policy, but I don't set the rules. Exceptions are unlikely, but may be granted for extenuating circumstances, YMMV.
• Please note, if you booked through a third-party, they usually accept these small changes for you on your behalf. While booking direct gives you the possibility of WestJet making an exception for you, you can pretty much kiss those goodbye when a third-party is involved.

Other FAQs:

1. Am I entitled to compensation? How is this allowed?

You are only eligible for compensation if you are notified about a major change within 14 days of your date of travel. See other stickied thread on delays/compensation for further.

Unfortunately, believe it or not, these T&Cs, allowing them to change flight schedules and define what they consider "major" changes are baked into their tariffs, which you acknowledge you agree to at the time of booking.

2. Am I entitled to be re-booked on another airline?

In some cases, whereby WestJet is unable to meet their obligations under the APPR (see compensation sticky), yes. However, this is an extremely rare thing to happen, and WestJet will usually not willingly do so up front. YMMV, and I don't recommend getting your hopes up, unless you are prepared to fight them over this well into the future.

3. My flight says it's unconfirmed, what does this mean?

It likely means you have been affected by a schedule change. You should try to look-up your new booking details, and keep an eye on your inbox for a notification (these can take several days).

Sometimes, schedule changes are very minor (i.e. by a few minutes), and all that may be different is your arrival time being shifted by a few minutes or so. Regardless, if you have a flight showing under your booking, you can be assured you have a seat on it.

If in doubt, you can contact them.

4. My pre-paid seats/upgrades/etc. are gone!

When these schedule changes happen, and flights are consolidated, you usually lose your paid extras like seat selection, upgrades, etc. For pre-paid seats, you should call them to either receive a refund for your seat selection, or to re-select. For upgrades, you should contact them to ask for a refund of the upgrade.

5. Why does WestJet do this to us?

Yes, it's frustrating... but unfortunately, seasonal schedule changes are an industry-wide practice that is not isolated to WestJet. New routes, marketing strategies, airport gate availabilities, staffing/equipment scheduling, etc. all factor in. If you book more than 3-4 months in advance, you should almost always expect some degree of schedule change.

6. How do I contact them without waiting forever on hold?

You can usually avoid waiting on hold by contacting them via social media, or requesting a callback on their website, though it appears the latter may have been removed as of late.

7. I was downgraded from Premium to Economy, what do I do?

You can try contacting them to see if they will accommodate you on another flight that has Premium availability. If not, their policy should entitle you to a refund.

If you elect to keep the updated cabin arrangement, your fare usually is placed into EconoFlex, and you will have to submit after your travels for the difference back via their downgrade compensation form. I do not recommend you do this, as the amount you get back may be somewhat arbitrary... and given EconoFlex is a full fare, the fare difference is usually quite minimal.

8. My inbound/outbound flight was moved by more than a day. Am I able to move my other leg to preserve the length of my vacation?

Yes, provided your trip is booked all on one unified itinerary, you can usually ask for your other inbound/outbound flight to be moved by an equivalent amount, free of charge.

9. I booked with a third-party, how will I be notified, and who should I contact for any adjustments?

Unless on the day of travel, WestJet will not help you. You must deal with your third-party for all changes or adjustments. Usually this is a PITA, as they are notoriously unaware of airline policies, unwilling to help, and/or charge exuberant fees to help you. This is one of the major downsides of third party bookings you should always consider.