Kelowna-bound travellers stuck in Vancouver for days as flights cancelled, delayed | Globalnews.ca

Heather Crane flew out of Kelowna en route to Vancouver on Sunday with every intention of making it home that same night, in time to introduce her family to a new puppy.

That introduction came a lot later than expected.

Between snowstorms delaying flights and airlines not coming through as planned, Crane, her puppy and nearly a full flight of travellers trying to make it to Kelowna, had a very long layover in Vancouver.

Crane flew into Vancouver a couple of hours later than planned on Sunday, but it all seemed manageable.

She went to pick her new pet up from a breeder and made her way back to the airport in plenty of time to catch her WestJet flight home to Kelowna.

When she got back to the airport, however, the flight was delayed, not just once but three times before it was ultimately cancelled.

WestJet told passengers on that flight they wouldn’t have a replacement option available until Tuesday and communication kind of dried up from there, she said.

“(WestJet) did give me some vouchers after my first cancelled morning flight to allow me to have some food at the airport on my Sunday, which was great. It was about $30 bucks worth of vouchers,” she said.

But after that, there was no information, no hotel vouchers, “nothing.”

“I have not received any other information from them at all. I tried to stand in line at the counter. I was in the line for about two hours and ultimately gave up and rebooked with Air Canada because with a puppy there’s only so much you can do,” Crane said.

So she and her new pup found a hotel for the night, but their travel misadventure continued.

“(Monday) we got to (Vancouver International Airport) for an 8:40 a.m. flight (with Air Canada), got on an airplane, flew to Kelowna, did three giant loops around the airport and then flew back to Vancouver,” she said.

“Once we were back (in Vancouver), they told us we were going to hang out for a couple of hours and they were going to try again.”

That flight got delayed until 5 p.m. and then cancelled again.

The next flight was Tuesday at 11 a.m., and it was filled with passengers who had similar stories, Crane said. Finally, it took off and landed, safe and sound.

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Many, however, who had been through the ordeal that lasted several days, have yet to get their baggage back.

Travel problems have become commonplace in recent months, but Crane said she was surprised by the lack of communication or support as she navigated the stressful situation.

Crane said she didn’t have any of her new dog’s proper food, nor any toiletries for herself or even a change of clothes. None of that was on offer, either.

“I ended up buying some new stuff from the Lululemon store in the airport so that I was fresh enough to be seen in public,” she said. “And then as far as the cancellation goes (Monday), there was, again, no compensation as far as everybody basically did not get compensated because it was weather related.”

She’s going to pursue a claim but it’s been a big hit to her pocketbook.

“I will go through their claims process because the only alternate flight available to me was almost two days after my current flight, which is crazy,” she said.

“It’s really impacted my family and obviously now, what was supposed to be a Sunday flight is a Tuesday afternoon flight, which means I’ve missed two days of work. So I get to play catch-up there as well.”

The silver lining is the new dog.

“I’ve seen a lot of very stressed-out people. So because I’ve got the puppy I’ve been trying to help other people, help calm their nerves a little and bring some smiles to some,” she said.

Aaron Hicks is another traveller who has been trying to make it to Kelowna for days, with little luck.

He was planning to fly into Kelowna Saturday but his WestJet flight got cancelled. On Sunday his make-up flight was delayed and then he was on board the Monday flight that circled the airport.

By the time he arrived in Kelowna Tuesday, he’d heard very little about whether there would be any compensation for the days he spent in limbo.

Weather issues happen, the weary travellers said, but the lack of communication made matters worse.

“Since COVID happened, travel has been a challenge and you know, the people working in these airports, a lot of it is out of their control as well,” Crane said.

“So I think there’s been a fair amount of respect but the lack of communication is definitely hard for everyone.”

Crane said that it would simply be better if that was taken into consideration.

“I was helping a lady who didn’t speak the language and you could see the confusion and the stress … you could feel it,” she said. “It would be great if airports could at least offer some more assistance in the gates just with people milling about answering questions for us.”

Air Canada told Global News: “adverse winter conditions and snow in the Okanagan over the past couple of days has affected Air Canada and Air Canada Express operations.”

“Safety is the overriding priority, and Air Canada and Air Canada Express flights operate when it is safe to do so. Even though flights may be relatively short, conditions can quickly change en route, and aircraft are not able to land at their destination. In those cases, the crew in consultation with other teams and aviation parties will make a decision to return to the original airport. Our teams have worked hard to get passengers on their way as soon as weather conditions permit and aircraft and crew are available.”

By publication time, WestJet had not yet responded to a request for comment.