Flair Airlines passenger misses daughter's baby shower amid plane seizures

Jay Turrell and his family were 10 minutes away from Halifax Stanfield International Airport when they received an email from Flair Airlines notifying them that their flight was cancelled due to “safety concerns” last Saturday morning.

Turrell, his wife April, and their two daughters had just made the long, two-hour trek from their hometown of Amherst, Nova Scotia, expecting to catch a flight to Toronto so that they could attend their eldest daughter’s baby shower.

“We were supposed to be [there] for Sunday. We were throwing a baby shower for my oldest daughter in Ontario for her newborn baby,” Turrell told Daily Hive over the phone.

“It was going to be our chance to meet the baby as well. We spent quite a bit of money organizing a party that we were no longer able to attend.”

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He says that after perusing social media, they later found out that the flight cancellation wasn’t because of “safety concerns,” but instead due to the seizure of Flair airplanes amid a “commercial dispute.”

“We actually found out from somebody who was flying from Toronto to Halifax, so the plane that we were supposed to be on to come to Ontario,” he said. “They were told as they were boarding that their flight was cancelled.

“Later on in the day, we found out that it was because it was seized. It was one of the four planes that had been seized on Saturday,” added Turrell.

This left the family scrambling to rebook their flight to make it to the baby shower in time.

Turrell says Flair’s original booking of their replacement flight was supposed to be on Thursday.

After numerous calls to Flair, they were finally able to rebook a flight for Monday. Unfortunately, instead of spending Sunday at their grandkid’s baby shower, they spent it at a hotel in Halifax.

“We were quite pissed off,” Turrell expressed. “We paid for our tickets to come out here in December. This was a long planning process to get out here.”

And to add salt to the wound, he says they received an email from Flair on Monday telling them to fill out a form because they were eligible for compensation, only to be denied compensation.

“Upon review, we have determined that this cancellation was due to reasons within Flair Airlines’ control and required for safety purposes… and is not eligible for the payment of compensation,” reads the reply Turrell received from Flair.

In a statement to Daily Hive, Flair says it has rebooked hundreds upon hundreds of passengers who were affected by the seizures on new flights at no additional cost but did not address issues surrounding compensation.

“We are very sorry passengers were impacted this weekend,” stated CEO Stephen Jones.

The airline also advised travellers that they can rebook their own flights and receive reimbursement within seven days.

Turrell is not impressed with how Flair has handled his family’s case.

“They need to make it right,” he said. “My time is just as valuable as their time. It cost me over $1,000 to throw that party that I wasn’t even at. They totally messed that up for us all.”

For now, Turrell continues to refill the compensation form and says he’ll keep doing it until they get compensation.

“I won’t be flying Flair again.”