A Canadian air passenger says she received "unacceptable" compensation after a low-cost carrier cancelled her Vancouver flight at the last minute and re-booked her on one scheduled for a week later.
Ksenia Zaiets was originally booked on a July 31 flight from Vancouver to Toronto with Flair Airlines that was scheduled to depart at 4:35 p.m.
But the Ontario resident writes in a Facebook post that she received a message from the airline at 4 a.m. on the day her flight was scheduled to leave that it would be delayed to 10:50 p.m. "I was completely okay with that," she noted.
At 4:50 p.m., however, the frustrated traveller was informed that the flight had been cancelled due to a "controllable late arrival from [the] previous station caused by an operational delay."
Zaiets was re-booked on a flight a week later, on Aug. 7, which didn't work for her schedule. Additionally, a flight board at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) showed the flight was still delayed but not cancelled.
"I was so confused," she wrote. "Also, one employee told us that Flair cancelled the same flight yesterday and they put those passengers in our flight and cancelled ours."
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After trying to speak to the airline's representatives at the airport and making numerous attempts to contact its customer service via phone, Zaiets purchased a new ticket with Lynx Air for Aug. 2 for $535.
Zaiets told Vancouver Is Awesome that she was "forced" to buy the new ticket because the airline booked her so far from her original departure date.
"It was my [third] time with Flair and everything was fine until yesterday," she explained. "That was unacceptable — I mean to re-book me [one] week later. Now, I’m planning to cancel that flight and ask for a refund and compensation."
Numerous Flair Airlines passengers have taken to social media in recent weeks to express their outrage at the carrier's delays and cancellations in a Facebook group called Flair Airlines Nightmares. One of them is Matin Rahmatian, a Vancouver resident who was scheduled to fly home from Toronto (the opposite direction as Zaiets) on July 31.
The Vancouverite said his flight was also delayed before it was cancelled and then the carrier re-booked him over a week later on Aug. 8.
"Stupid! I had to pay $2,100 CAD to book two tickets with WestJet for my wife and myself. Where can I follow up for a penalty?" he wrote.
Numerous travellers have expressed frustration as airports across the globe continue to see massive delays. Canadians are also expressing anger about government messaging regarding the handling of airport congestion.
V.I.A has reached out to Flair Airlines for additional comment.
