runsmoothWestJet told passengers flights were cancelled for safety. Records suggest otherwise
Canada’s regulations for airlines are weak. Politicians are simultaneously the most flexible and the weakest link of any system of governance. Politicians are always incentivized to focus on the maintenance of power, creating or seeking gate keepers and keeping these keepers paid in exchange.
Why Canada does not have default fines and compensation menus in favour of airline riders for a crucial public service like air flight?
There was just one problem: Neufeld — a licensed small plane pilot — said the plane was not de-iced while he was on it.
Meanwhile, using publicly available flight info, Neufeld and Lukács uncovered a different sequence of events.
Just eight minutes before Neufeld’s flight was cancelled, WestJet had reassigned the aircraft, which instead flew from Edmonton to Kelowna, B.C., and back that day. For Neufeld’s trip, the airline brought in a different plane — one with mechanical issues.
It was a game of “musical chairs” that the company did not disclose in court documents, said Lukács.
“It’s very serious misconduct, because WestJet had all the knowledge to tell the court, ‘We swapped the aircraft.’ They did not do that.”
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Mehta checked the flight records and learned the plane previously assigned to his flight was still flying that day, completing multiple routes.
“I could definitely see that the aircraft was not grounded for maintenance,” he said. “It was kind of heartbreaking for me to have these findings.”
Mehta wrote to WestJet with the new information. Hearing nothing, he wrote again two weeks later, but the denial held.
Flight records reviewed by Go Public shows that Mehta’s case was similar to Neufeld’s: WestJet swapped out the assigned aircraft for a different plane, then cancelled the flight about an hour later, claiming it was for unplanned maintenance.
“This is surprising,” said Mehta, who was unaware of the last-minute aircraft change. “This is definitely a big development.”
CBC Nova Scotia
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