Flight delay leaves Calgary family out thousands of dollars; WestJet denies compensation

A Calgary family’s return from a sunny getaway last month spiralled into more than a day of delays, thousands of dollars in mounting bills, and no compensation.

The trouble began on March 2 when Lara Smith, her husband, and their son were booked on a short WestJet flight home from Palm Springs.

What should have been a two‑and‑a‑half‑hour trip stretched into a 40‑hour saga involving two cancelled WestJet flights, repeated rebookings, and long waits with little information.

Smith says the lack of guidance forced the family to cover everything themselves including hotels, meals, and transportation. She says it ultimately cost them $3,800 out of pocket altogether.

“We were all calling WestJet,” Smith says. “There’s no information you can get at the airport. After this great week in Palm Springs, we were just worn out and frustrated.”

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The family finally made it back to Calgary on March 4 via Vancouver and filed a reimbursement claim. WestJet denied the claim less than a month later citing unscheduled aircraft maintenance

It’s a classification that exempts the airline from paying compensation under federal air passenger rules.

Smith says the explanation doesn’t match what she was told during the ordeal and that WestJet provided no evidence to support its decision.

“They are just denying your claim with no rationale,” she said.

In a statement, WestJet said unscheduled maintenance was the “most significant factor” behind both cancellations and that such events fall under safety‑related disruptions.

Air passenger rights advocate Gábor Lukács says the case highlights gaps in Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR). While he says WestJet must reimburse the family for meals and accommodation, he believes the broader compensation question remains unresolved and may require small claims court to settle.

Smith says she never received an apology.

“Even a simple acknowledgment of our frustrations would have gone such a long way,” she says.

She has now filed a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency, a process she’s been told could take up to two years.