WestJet ordered to pay passengers $2K after offering only $16 for flight diversion

B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered WestJet to refund a family in full for their diverted flight and compensate them for associated costs.

B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered WestJet to refund a family in full for their diverted flight and compensate them for associated costs.

The passengers, referred to as RA, SB and MB in the decision because MB is a child, were on a flight from Hawaii to Vancouver in April 2023 when it was diverted to Victoria due to smoke from a volcano, according to the tribunal.

The applicants claimed that WestJet agreed to refund their flights, but later refused to do so, and that the airline also agreed to pay for their hotel, travel and food expenses that resulted from the flight change, but only reimbursed part of the costs.

In his decision dated Sept. 17, tribunal member Peter Mennie was tasked with ruling whether WestJet owed the group a further $430.80 for hotel, travel and food costs and whether it owed $1,395.18 as a refund for the flights. He ultimately ruled WestJet must pay both.

After the family landed in Victoria the evening of April 13, 2023, they received an email from WestJet with three options: take a flight at 12 p.m. from Victoria to Vancouver, choose a different flight, or request a refund for the “flight-only itinerary.” They chose the refund, and WestJet sent an email confirming that request was being processed.

The decision says the group followed up with WestJet multiple times on the matter and received contradictory responses, and an employee eventually told them their refund wasn’t approved.

According to the decision, WestJet argued that the family is only entitled to $16.17 for their flights, because it says it’s only required to refund the “unused portion of the applicants’ tickets.”