My complaint:
My name is Catherine Haddon ( you may know me as UKMVKM) I’m not sure who will read this, or if anyone cares, but I really wanted to share my experience with West Jet airlines. I have been a loyal customer to West Jet for many years. I fly yearly (some times twice a year) to vacation destinations, mostly international (Mexico, Europe, US etc…) and every time I make sure West Jet is number one on my list to book a flight with.
My husband and I were planning for years to take our whole family (3 adult children, Son’s fiancé and my oldest sister) on a trip to Mexico at our expense. This was finally the year we could do it and of course, we made sure all flights were through West Jet our favorite airline.
Every thing went smoothly until our return home on a connecting flight in Calgary. First there was a medical emergency on our flight arriving in Calgary which caused a delay getting off the plane, then customs and security were extremely backed up and the crew at West Jet knew all about the problems with the overloaded security. I wasn’t worried because we were flying with West Jet and there is no way they would leave their customers behind. I even assured other people in the same situation not to worry because I was positive West Jet would wait for us. Boy was I wrong.
This was the last flight leaving Calgary for Vancouver.(11:15 pm). We were all very tired and hungry (pretzels and water didn’t cut it). And no restaurants open in the airport. We made it to our gate late of course because of the airport security, but the plane was still there. There were other people waiting at the gate when we arrived. They informed us that they closed the gate and would not wait for us. WEST JET ABANDONED AROUND 30 PEOPLE IN CALGARY !!! No place to go…no place to eat. To spend the night in a cold empty airport with my family and my 70 year old sister ( who froze all night because we were definitely not prepared to sleep in an airport over night)
A couple we were travelling with made it on the plane because he injured his back and was whisked through security in a wheel chair. They told the crew on the plane that we were stuck in the long line up in security (apparently along with many others who were suppose to be on that plane). They were shocked that they didn’t even wait an extra 5-10 minutes. Which that is all it would have took to get the rest of your customers on that plane.
The plane was HALF EMPTY and it still left !! I did call and put in a claim for some sort of compensation and or apology. I received nothing an no explanation why West Jet would treat their customers this way. I am sure you have heard form the other people who were also left behind on that flight. Believe me we were the calm ones. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with West Jet. This was a horrible way to end our once in a lifetime family vacation. WEST JET just didn’t even care.
In case you care the date was March 17, 2022 Flight WS135
Suggested solution:
I would have liked some sort of compensation and apology. They never took any responsibility for abandoning us like that and ending our family vacation on a very sour note.
