Passenger suing Westjet

OTTAWA One of the thousands of Canadians whose flights were cancelled over the holidays is skipping Canada's severely backlogged complaints system and taking matters into his own hands by suing Westjet.

Aaron Trager, the Toronto lawyer who filed the suit in Federal Court, says the airline didn't live up to its obligation under the law to find him another flight. Westjet is now refusing to compensate Trager for the alternate flight he booked himself — a situation he blames on a broken system that gives airlines a profit motive for such behaviour.

“I should be able to submit this to the Canada Transportation Agency. They should look at this in two seconds” and order Westjet to pay back the costs, said Trager.

Instead, passengers with complaints face a wait that was 18 months long even before the travel chaos that saw thousands of flights cancelled because of bad weather in December.

Trager said the government needs to strengthen air passenger protection rules, including by introducing substantial fines as a deterrent and forcing airlines to inform passengers of their rights.

Instead of sending an email to passengers offering them a refund, airlines should be obligated to inform customers they also have the option to choose to be rebooked by the airline under the law. “Then the airlines will start behaving,” he said.

Trager had booked flights for his family on Dec. 22 from Toronto to Calgary and then from Calgary to Hawaii, both of which were cancelled, the court filing outlines. After Westjet didn't get in touch to rebook the family on another flight, and with Trager unable to reach customer service — the company was offering a callback in six days — he rebooked flights on his own.

Westjet is now refusing to compensate him for those rebooked flights, which, along with associated costs, totalled over $8,200.

Trager is also asking for punitive damages of $40,000.

The filing argues that under the Transportation Act, Westjet must rebook a customer within 48 hours on one of its own flights or on a carrier it has a commercial agreement with. If this isn't possible, large airlines must give customers the choice of a refund or to be rebooked with a different carrier, free of charge.

“As Westjet was unavailable to book alternative flights, the Plaintiff rebooked a flight on behalf of

I should be able to submit this to the Canada Transportation Agency. They should look at this in two seconds.

Westjet. This was the only reasonable option in the circumstances. In fact, by rebooking his own flight, the Plaintiff enabled Westjet to honour its own obligations under the Transportation Act and Terms of Service,” the filing argues.

The lawsuit says Trager received a letter from Westjet on Jan. 25 offering a refund but refusing to compensate him.

The filing argues that Westjet has a “clear profit motive” to push customers toward accepting refunds.

“Airline tickets increase in price as time moves closer to the departure date, and last minute tickets cost the most. Meanwhile, many tickets are purchased well in advance of the departure date by passengers to take advantage of lower ticket prices,” it says.