Passengers are seen in the WestJet check-in area at Pearson International Airport, in Toronto, on June 29.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
A passenger rights group has filed a lawsuit against WestJet Airlines Ltd. in a legal challenge that some consumer advocates say could have broad repercussions, helping to ensure carriers do not unduly limit reimbursement in the event of flight disruptions.
In a statement of claim filed Aug. 6 in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the non-profit Air Passenger Rights group alleges that guidelines published online by WestJet are potentially misleading customers about their ability to get money back for expenses incurred for flight delays and cancellations or when they are denied boarding.
The guidance runs contrary to laws applicable to both domestic and international flights, according to the lawsuit, by imposing a ceiling on reimbursement for meals and hotel accommodations and stating that passengers won’t receive repayment for roaming charges, lost wages and missing events they had already paid for.
“It has been on my radar for a long time,” Air Passenger Rights president Gabor Lukacs said of WestJet’s guidelines. But with flight disruptions soaring in recent years, the number of passengers who have seen reimbursements unduly capped or denied has climbed, he said.
On its website, WestJet currently states it will reimburse up to $150 a night – or $200 a night for international destinations – for hotel stays in the event of flight disruptions within the airline’s control when it is unable to secure accommodation or passengers choose to book their own room.
For meal expenses, the carrier says it pays up to $45 a day for each person, during disruptions within its control, if vouchers are not available. The airline will also provide or pay for transportation to and from the hotel but does not reimburse out-of-pocket costs for roaming charges, lost wages and missed events.
The lawsuit alleges the ceiling on reimbursements for hotel stays and meals is contrary to both the Canada Transportation Act, Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations and the Montreal Convention, a multilateral treaty that governs international travel.
Excluding roaming fees from reimbursement also goes against both domestic and international rules, while refusing compensation for missed events and lost wages is inconsistent with the Montreal Convention, the lawsuit says.
Under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which apply to both domestic flights and, alongside the Montreal Convention, to international air travel, airlines must provide reasonable amounts of food and drink, access to a telephone or WiFi and overnight accommodation when warranted for delays or cancellations deemed to be within their control.
“It is the airline which is supposed to be running and finding a bargain,” Mr. Lukacs said, speaking of hotel bookings. “If they cannot, that’s prima facie evidence, there’s nothing cheap available, so a passenger cannot be expected to get something cheap.”
Mr. Lukacs also described WestJet’s $45 limit on meal expenses as woefully low given the cost of airport food and drink.
Air Passenger Rights is asking that the court instruct WestJet to remove the guidelines from its website, stop applying the guidance to passengers’ claims for reimbursement and pay back customers whose compensation was unfairly limited, among other requests.
Julia Brunet, a spokesperson for WestJet, declined to offer a statement, saying the airline does not comment on matters before the courts.
John Lawford, executive director and general counsel of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, a consumer rights group, said WestJet stands out for having a publicly available document outlining compensation caps and exclusions. However, it’s likely that other airlines also seek to impose ceilings on what and how much they’ll reimburse through more informal customer interactions, he added.
The lawsuit, if successful, may deter other airlines from applying similar limits, Mr. Lawford said.
“It’s a nice shot across the bow to Air Canada and the other carriers to see if they’re doing this, in a soft-power kind of way,” he said.
The Canadian Transportation Agency, the federal transportation regulator, was unable to reply before deadline to a request for comment on what passengers are entitled to when claiming reimbursement for flight disruptions.
“It’s really an embarrassment that we, as an NGO, have to bring this type of action when it would be the government’s job to enforce the laws and they’re just failing to enforce the rights of passengers,” Mr. Lukacs said.