After 10-plus years as a loyal WestJet traveller, Jennifer Hewitt says she is swearing off the Canadian airline after a series of unforeseen flight cancellations left her and her husband still stranded in Jamaica.
“(I’m) very frustrated. I said, ‘I’m not coming back to Jamaica for a while, and if I’m flying, it won’t be WestJet,'” Hewitt said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca.
Hewitt, 64, flew to the Caribbean island on June 17 to visit friends and family for vacation and was scheduled to return home to Ajax, Ont., on June 29.
“I did not get a cancellation notice from WestJet, so we came (to the airport in Montego Bay),” Hewitt said.
She dropped off her rental car before making her way inside Sangster International Airport, where she said she learned at the WestJet travel desk that her flight home had been cancelled due to the strike by the airline mechanics union. Though the job action ended Sunday, the disruption cancelled more than 1,100 flights and impacted more than 100,000 travellers.
“Unfortunately, as July long weekend is a peak travel period across Canada, limited availability exists both within our network and through alternative carriers, making options for accommodation extremely challenging,” WestJet said in a service update after the strike averted.
For Hewitt, she said she was rescheduled for a departure on Tuesday with American Airlines, which included a seven-hour layover in Miami, Fla. When she returned to the airport for her flight, Hewitt said it was cancelled outright for yet another reason out of the airline’s control: Hurricane Beryl.
The storm developed rapidly into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, but by early Thursday, it reduced to Category 3, though it remains a major hurricane in the area.
According to Hewitt, at the time of Thursday’s interview, Montego Bay is “nice and sunny, as though nothing ever happened.”
“The only thing is that we have no water, we have no light,” she added.
Beryl grounded WestJet flights in Cancun, Montego Bay and Kingston, with flights suspended until at least this Friday. Sangster International Airport said it will temporarily shutter due to the storm, remaining closed Wednesday. Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and Ian Fleming International Airport in Ocho Rios are also temporarily closed, but have all since reopened, according to the country’s tourism board.
Hewitt and her husband were scheduled on an Air Transat flight Thursday, but due to the airport closures, have been rescheduled to fly out with the airline Friday at around 5:45 p.m.
Each time her flight was cancelled, Hewitt says she was never notified by WestJet – who she says booked all of her subsequent trips – of the flight disruption ahead of time. Additionally, she says it’s been difficult to get a hold of them on the phone.
Each time her flights were cancelled, Hewitt says WestJet never warned her of any disruptions ahead of time – despite being the ones who booked the flights.
“I’m blaming WestJet because we originally booked with them … they’re not even communicating with us, and I tried to call WestJet several times from where I was staying and no, it’s always busy,” Hewitt said. “One time I got through, and I spent three hours on the phone only to get cut off.”
Passengers wait as flights continue to be delayed or outright cancelled at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica on July 4, 2024. (Jennifer Hewitt)
In a statement to CTVNews.ca, WestJet apologized to all travellers impacted by the mechanics strike on June 28.
“Our teams across WestJet are working diligently to support all impacted guests as quickly as possible,” the emailed statement reads.
The Calgary-based airline added it has been in compliance with the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, with regards to providing alternate travel arrangements to fliers within 48 hours of the flight cancellation.
“If this is not possible, guests are entitled to request a refund to their original form of payment,” the airline said.
The whole ordeal has set Hewitt back financially, particularly with the number of taxi rides she has taken to and from Montego Bay’s airport in hopes of boarding her return flight home. Since she no longer had access to a rental car, she said she paid about $50 in taxi fare to make it back to her relatives – a fare she can no longer afford.
“The taxi, I got to know him, so he’ll wait until I go back to Toronto and send him his money. I haven’t been paying him because I have no money,” Hewitt explained, pointing to the unexpected days off work and the need to pay her bills as part of the reason she cannot currently afford the fare.
Hewitt hopes WestJet will be able to cover the costs that she has incurred during her imposed extended stay in Jamaica.
“I’m just so upset with WestJet because of the way they treated me,” Hewitt said. “(P)eople came on Monday and the airline wasn’t flying, but then they got to go on Tuesday, and I’m like, ‘We’ve been here since Saturday. Why aren’t we going?'”
Travel advisories in place
Fliers are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Jamaica due to Hurricane Beryl, according to an advisory last updated shortly after noon on July 4. Global Affairs Canada is also urging Canadians to avoid all travel to Haiti and non-essential travel to Union Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Carriacou and Petite Martinique in Grenada, and to the east coast of Yucatan Peninsula from Cabo Catoche to Chetumal, including Cozumel, as a result of the storm.
A global affairs spokesperson told CTVNews.ca that there are 1,857 registered Canadians in Jamaica and 10,000 in Mexico.
Alberta native Alecia Repp, who has been living in Playa del Carmen for five years, told CTVNews.ca how Beryl is impacting the area and how it compares to other storms.
“I’ve been through a few hurricanes in this area before, and those ones were actually worse than this,” she said. “Having had those experiences, I’m a little bit more relaxed.”
Repp adds that businesses have boarded up their storefronts and residents have taped over their windows, and all indoor furniture has been brought inside. She said she has stocked up on all her favourite food, water and other essentials to weather the storm.
“I think the main thing that I’ve learned is just not to panic, and if you stay calm and prepare yourself like we’ve been preparing for a few days now, it won’t be that bad,” Repp said.
To Canadians abroad still attempting to return home, Global Affairs Canada advises staying up to date with travel advisories, signing up for the Canadians Abroad service, communicating with family and friends about the situation and staying up-to-date on local news for the latest forecasts.
With files from Sarah Plowman and The Associated Press
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Passengers wait as flights continue to be delayed or outright cancelled at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica on July 4, 2024. (Jennifer Hewitt)
