In many countries, it is actually a solid rule that if your flight gets canceled or delayed for hours, then you’ll be compensated by the airline. But what if the airline just makes up some shady or false reason to avoid paying their customers? What then? Well, that is just not okay, and it is illegal, too. This is the same thing that happened with two Canadian airlines, WestJet and Swoop, where they canceled or delayed a lot of flights and still didn’t compensate the customers/passengers. All of this went on for a while, so, then a law firm jumped into action and actually filed a lawsuit against these airlines, and this is precisely what we know as the famous WestJet Passenger Delay Lawsuit. So, let’s get to some details of this case and see what it really means for you as a customer of these airlines.
What Were the Airlines Supposed to Do?
Well, just like the United States, in Canada, too, there are some set rules for the airlines, and these are usually called the APPR rules. What are these? Oh, well, as per these rules, if a flight gets canceled or delayed for some reason, it is actually the airline’s fault, and they have to compensate the customers by paying them back. It could be straight up in cash, food, a hotel to stay at, or help in getting another flight, or anything like that.
Well, these rules sound really necessary ones and for the convenience of the passengers, right? Yes, that’s how it is supposed to be, but there are airlines like WestJet and Swoop that go against these rules and avoid paying the passengers back. Like, whenever there was a delayed or canceled flight, these airlines would straight up say that there were some “security/safety reasons” behind the flight getting canceled or delayed, so they can’t do anything about it and can’t even pay the passengers back.
Why People Are Suing WestJet and Swoop
As we already told you, these airlines like WestJet and Swoop played with the loopholes in the rule, like, whenever there was a delayed or canceled flight, they’d come up and say it was because of some “safety reason.” And that would be just it. Like, after saying that, they don’t have to pay to the passengers, and that led to so many passengers being upset with these airlines, and eventually, a law firm, Slater Vecchio LLP, kicked off this WestJet Passenger Delay Lawsuit against both airlines to make things right for all those passengers.
WestJet Just Got Slammed in Court (And It’s a Big Thing)
Recently, we saw a big update in this lawsuit, like back in February 2025, when the B.C. Supreme Court straight up told WestJet to stop doing these shady practices and start paying the passengers back for their canceled and delayed flights. But still, the airline decided to screw it up, like, they try to minimize the expenses as much as possible by saying that they’ll only give you $150 a night for hotels, $200 if you’re outside Canada, and $45 a day for meals.
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Read related cases in our Other Major Lawsuits & Disputes section.
