{"id":829459,"date":"2025-02-24T13:12:19","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T19:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/b-c-judge-orders-westjet-to-stop-telling-unhappy-passengers-the-skys-not-the-limit-on-delay-claims\/"},"modified":"2025-02-24T13:12:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T19:12:19","slug":"b-c-judge-orders-westjet-to-stop-telling-unhappy-passengers-the-skys-not-the-limit-on-delay-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/b-c-judge-orders-westjet-to-stop-telling-unhappy-passengers-the-skys-not-the-limit-on-delay-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. judge orders WestJet to stop telling unhappy passengers the sky’s not the limit on delay claims"},"content":{"rendered":"
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British Columbia<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered WestJet to stop telling passengers there’s a limit to how much they can claim for expenses incurred by flight delays and cancellations. The injunction was issued Friday ahead of a trial next year over allegations of deceptive business practices.<\/p>\n

Judge says airline already changed website language to fit order sought by passenger rights group<\/h2>\n
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Jason Proctor<\/a><\/span> \u00b7 <\/span>CBC News<\/p>\n

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WestJet has been ordered not to tell its customers that there are hard limits on how much reimbursement they can seek as compensation for flight delays and cancellations. (Jeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered WestJet to stop telling passengers there’s a limit to how much they can claim for expenses incurred by flight delays and cancellations.<\/p>\n

Justice John Gibb-Carsley issued the interim injunction in New Westminster, B.C., Friday ahead of a trial set for next year over claims from a passenger advocacy group that statements around reimbursements\u00a0found on the airline’s website were deceptive.<\/p>\n

WestJet has since changed the wording to remove\u00a0maximums for hotel\u00a0and meal\u00a0costs \u2014 but the judge decided an order was still warranted to prohibit the airline or its employees “from communicating that same information to passengers in other forms.”<\/p>\n

G\u00e1bor Luk\u00e1cs heads the organization that initiated the lawsuit \u2014 literally called the Air Passenger Rights group.<\/p>\n

“I am very pleased that a court agreed with our position,” Luk\u00e1cs told CBC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Food and drink in reasonable quantities’<\/h2>\n

Luk\u00e1cs’s group\u00a0sued WestJet last year in response to guidelines\u00a0found\u00a0on the web page where passengers were sent to submit requests for reimbursement because of flight delays or cancellations.<\/p>\n

The original language said, “WestJet will reimburse you up to $150.00 CAD ($200.00 CAD for non-Canadian destinations)” and “meal expenses to a maximum of $45 CAD per day\/per guest.”<\/p>\n

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Air passenger advocate G\u00e1bor Luk\u00e1cs heads the group that won an interim injunction against WestJet ahead of a trial over the way the airline communicates with passengers over claims for delay. ( David Laughlin\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The airline also claimed it would not reimburse expenses for “cellular roaming charges, missed entertainment\/sporting\/excursion events, lost wages or missed connections to non-partner airlines or cruises.”<\/p>\n

In court documents, the advocacy\u00a0group points to the Montreal Convention, an\u00a0international treaty governing the rights and obligations of carriers that has been incorporated into Canadian law.<\/p>\n

“The Montreal Convention does not provide limits for specific out-of-pocket expenses such as $250 for accommodations, $50 for food, $10 for roaming fees,” the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n

“Imposing such limits would be contrary to Article 26 of the Montreal Convention.”<\/p>\n

Under those rules, Luk\u00e1cs\u00a0says passengers are entitled to\u00a0a maximum of just under $12,000 for delay.<\/p>\n

Within two weeks of the filing of the lawsuit, WestJet changed the language relating to\u00a0reimbursement on its website.<\/p>\n

“Guests may be entitled to food and drink in reasonable quantities and access to means of communication,” the new wording reads.<\/p>\n

“When recovery from a flight cancellation involves an overnight stay, guests may be entitled to a hotel or comparable accommodation within a reasonable distance from the airport and transportation between the airport and the accommodations.”<\/p>\n

Airline claims changes make lawsuit moot<\/h2>\n

WestJet has denied the allegation of deceptive business practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its response to the lawsuit, the company argues the changes it has already made render\u00a0the lawsuit itself moot: “The revised reimbursement webpage contains no reference to the WestJet\u00a0guidelines initially complained of.”<\/p>\n

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The Air Passenger Rights group claims that WestJet is not allowed to tell passengers that there are hard limits for the amounts they can claim as reimbursement for delayed or cancelled flights. (Francis Ferland\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In its court filings, the Air Passenger Rights group provided an affidavit from a passenger who claimed $6,885.77 for expenses and\u00a0$7,000 for inconvenience after she was allegedly stranded in Los Angeles for five days because of a WestJet strike in July 2024.<\/p>\n

Instead, the woman was provided a reimbursement of $291.97 US along with an emailed explanation\u00a0citing WestJet’s “guidelines.”<\/p>\n

In its arguments, the airline says its policies for determining how much to reimburse passengers are reasonable.<\/p>\n

“WestJet asserts that the evidence does not support that the WestJet\u00a0guidelines are deceptive or misleading, or that their application by WestJet was unconscionable,” Justice Gibb-Carsley wrote in his injunction ruling.<\/p>\n

“Because if a passenger is dissatisfied with WestJet’s reimbursement decision, the passenger has a remedy of seeking compensation either through the Canada Transportation Agency or court.”<\/p>\n

‘Determined to bring this to trial’<\/h2>\n

The Air Passenger Rights group is seeking both a declaration that WestJet has engaged in deceptive practices and restitution for B.C. passengers dating back to the summer of 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Gibb-Carsley decided to issue the interim injunction, he wouldn’t agree to an order sought by the Air Passenger Rights group that would have forced the airline to provide affected passengers with a copy of the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Based on the evidence he has seen so far, the judge said he was “not satisfied that there is a strong likelihood that, at trial, [the advocacy group]\u00a0will be ultimately successful in proving the allegations.”<\/p>\n

But the judge stressed that “the ultimate issues of whether WestJet’s practices in respect to reimbursing passengers and whether its application and communication of those practices are unfair or deceptive” will\u00a0be decided at trial.<\/p>\n

Luk\u00e1cs said the court proceedings are only just beginning.<\/p>\n

“We are certainly determined to bring this to trial,” he said.<\/p>\n

In an email, WestJet\u00a0said the company would not comment on the case while it is before the courts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/h2>\n
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Jason Proctor is a reporter in British Columbia for CBC News and has covered the B.C. courts and the justice system extensively.<\/p>\n