WestJet passengers concerned about price gouging but here’s what you should do

Burnaby, B.C., resident Joe Gilchrist said it’s hot in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, but he knows there could be worst places to be “stuck” for a few days.

Gilchrist travelled with his partner to the sun destination on WestJet last week. But with tickets to fly home on Friday, Gilchrist said he is now unsure if they can, due to the possibility of a WestJet pilot’s strike starting at 2 a.m. PT the same day.

He told Global News the possibility of an upcoming pilot’s strike has been on his mind for most of his trip so he decided to see what his other options to buy a ticket might be.

“I always like to have a backup plan and I was looking online and so many of the prices were inflated,” he said. “I couldn’t believe Air Canada was charging $1,500 for a one-way ticket when our flight was only $600 return.”

“I feel it’s really unfair for a lot of the Canadian consumers, especially for people who have to come home,” Gilchrist said.

In a statement, Air Canada said its fleet is already fully deployed so the company has minimal ability to increase capacity further.

“However our staff are aware of the situation and prepared to assist. We are monitoring ticket prices to avoid automated spikes due to any surge in demand, however, given the prior high seasonal demand, the lowest-fare seats are in many cases already sold out,” Air Canada said.

“We will attempt to accommodate customers looking for new bookings with our remaining available seats when possible, but it is to be expected that demand will exceed capacity,” Air Canada continued. “Travellers seeking to fly on Air Canada should book through www.aircanada.com, as wait times to reach our Contact Centres are elevated. Those travellers with an existing WestJet booking should contact WestJet.”

WestJet pilots on Monday issued a 72-hour strike notice to the airline’s management and the federal government, starting a final countdown for walkouts as contract talks drag on.

Pilots are now poised to begin strike action at 5 a.m. ET (2 a.m. PT) on Friday unless a deal is reached, the union said.

The union warned job action could include grounding all WestJet-owned aircraft and “effectively shutting down operations.”

Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passenger Rights, said if a traveller’s flight is cancelled due to a strike, the current laws in Canada classify that as being out of the carrier’s control.

“Which is somewhat surprising, if not absurd, given that WestJet may itself be locking out its employees,” he said.

Lukacs explained that to be correctly compensated, WestJet must either cancel the passenger’s flight or if the strike goes ahead, it is assumed the flight can’t take place. Then, the passenger must give WestJet some time to rebook the passenger on the next available flight in the next 48 hours. In the event of a strike, Lukacs said, and WestJet flights are not available, WestJet must purchase a ticket for the passenger on a competitor’s airline.

“If WestJet is refusing to do so, or they’re not reachable, then, rightfully concluded, they are not fulfilling their end of the bargain, you can go and buy a ticket yourself and then make WestJet pay for the expenses,” Lukacs explained.

When it comes to inflated pricing, however, Lukacs said it’s a free market and airlines can choose to ask for as much as a passenger is willing to pay.

“Airlines are free to add as much capacity as they see fit and airlines will charge whatever is appropriate for the circumstances,” he said.

He said in this situation, however, it will eventually be WestJet footing the bill as the airline has the obligation to pay passengers for their tickets on other airlines if WestJet was given the chance to rebook the passengers.

In a statement, Flair Airlines said it has added flights between Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton over the holiday long weekend.

“Our teams are monitoring developments and are developing contingency plans should a strike action take place. Flair Airlines seats are put out for sale several months before the flights depart. That’s normally when the lowest fares are available — which are the lowest on offer in Canada. As the travel date approaches for any flight, fares increase — and sometimes decrease — according to customer demand, on a flight-by-flight, seat-by-seat basis. Our flights are increasingly full, particularly as Canadians begin to embark on their summer travels,” the company said.

Talks between WestJet and the union are continuing at a hotel in Toronto.

In an interview Wednesday, WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said the company has made a “very reasonable but also very generous offer” to the pilots.

“Which is basically raising their wages by a double-digit percentage and also addressing a lot of the concerns that they have. So overall, the entire negotiations are around scope, so job security basically. It’s around working conditions and it’s around wages,” he said.

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However, the two sides remain apart.

“Pilots’ expectations are pretty high,” von Hoensbroech added. “Canadian pilots are comparing themselves to their U.S. peers. And in the U.S., current pilot contracts pay double what is being paid in Canada.”

According to von Hoensbroech, the higher U.S. pay is due in part to the exchange rate and the U.S. being a different market. He said the pilots have publicly said they would like to close this pay gap. But he said that to close a pay gap that is basically double would be too big a jump. “That’s not a reasonable expectation that one can have.”

But Tim Perry, the Air Line Pilots Association’s national president, which represents the pilots, told Global News on Tuesday that he would not say what the current range of salaries for WestJet pilots is under the old collective agreement, or give an idea of what salaries were offered to other pilots under the airline’s most recent offer.

Gilchrist, who is enjoying the last days of his vacation, said he is trying not to worry too much.

“Definitely have a plan B, but if you’re stuck somewhere beautiful like this, don’t fret it. Don’t waste your time on hold for hours with the airline,” he said. “Go home and submit all your receipts and eventually, through your travel insurance and the airline, they should reimburse you.”

 

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