Face of Nation : The abrupt cancellation of 30 Swoop flights over the first 10 days in July sparked anger and confusion, with some customers paying out-of-pocket to salvage travel plans.
New federal air passenger protection regulations, which roll out Monday, aim to cut down on customer confusion by laying out clear compensation amounts and treatment standards for mishaps involving all airlines. But rules covering cancelled and delayed flights won’t take effect until December. The regulations also face two legal battles, including one from airlines trying to quash them in court.
In the meantime, upset Swoop passengers haved launched their own battles. So far this month, the Canadian Transportation Agency has received 19 complaints concerning cancelled Swoop flights. The ultra-low-cost-carrier, which is owned by WestJet, said the cancellations were caused by unscheduled aircraft maintenance.
Radek Romanowski got his cancellation notice the evening before his July 8 return flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Hamilton. A second email that night informed him that he was rebooked to fly on July 15 — one week later.
That didn’t work for the small business owner who needed to return home to Komoka, Ont., for work. But he couldn’t call Swoop to complain — because it was Sunday and the call centre was closed. He did send an email, but received no reply.
“It’s very, very bad business practice,” said Romanowski. “No communication, no conversation, no answering, nothing.”
In desperation, his wife, Hanna, used up more than 22,000 Aeroplan rewards miles to rebook him on an Air Canada flight the next day. “It should be better back-up or better service to get people back to where they are going,” she said.
Kevin Blenkhorn found out his Swoop flight was cancelled when he and his wife showed up at the Hamilton airport on July 7 to take their return flight to Edmonton.
“I was not happy,” said Blenkhorn who lives in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. Swoop had rebooked him on a flight that departed six days later, but Blenkhorn needed to get home immediately to return to his mining job.
He found a flight leaving the next morning on WestJet — Swoop’s owner — totalling $1,462 for two last-minute tickets. He was surprised that WestJet wouldn’t waive the cost.
Blenkhorn’s new booking cost him close to triple the price of his yet-to-be refunded Swoop tickets. Following the advice of a Swoop employee at the airport, he filed a claim with the airline, requesting reimbursement. “Til the money’s in the bank, I’m not counting on anything,” he said.
