WestJet admitted it wrongly refused refunds to rebooked passengers wanting out

WestJet said in July 2021 it made an error when it rebooked thousands of customers on alternate flights and offered no refunds — only credit — to those who wanted to cancel. 'We gave incorrect information or inconsistent information,' said Richard Bartrem, the airline's vice-president of communications. '[It's] tremendously frustrating for the guests... and we are sorry for that.'

The admission followed a CBC News investigation: five customers interviewed in June had each received emails rebooking their July flights onto longer routings with stopovers and, in three cases, different departure days. The emails said rejecting the change meant cancelling for credit only; when each asked WestJet for a refund instead, they were flatly refused — one was told 'if we make a schedule change, we will only give you a credit back'. The Canadian Transportation Agency had received 72 complaints on the matter since 1 June.

CBC pointed WestJet to Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which mandate refunds for cancellations within the airline's control, and to WestJet's own tariff, which promises refunds for major schedule changes. The airline updated its website to confirm entitlement to refunds and said it was taking steps so affected customers could collect them, blaming confusion from ramping the business back up during the pandemic.

The airline's own tariff promised refunds for major schedule changes, making the credit-only instructions a breach of its filed rules, not just a service failure.

Frontline staff were left giving 'categorical' refusals that contradicted both the regulations and the tariff, multiplying complaints.

Passengers were rebooked onto objectively worse itineraries — stopovers, longer routes, different days — which made the refund refusal indefensible under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations.

A tariff is a contract: when your own rule book promises refunds for major schedule changes, telling call-centre agents to offer credit only converts a scheduling problem into a regulatory one.

WestJet updated its website to state that customers with major schedule changes are entitled to refunds and began processing them for affected customers.