WestJet ordered to pay hundreds for customer’s seat downgrade

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Steven James Davidson was booked in a premium seat on his flight from Calgary to Phoenix. However, he could not enjoy the comfort of the luxury seat when his earlier WestJet flight from Kamloops to Calgary was delayed, and he was rebooked in an economy seat on a later flight.

His solution? Take the airline company to court for compensation.

Davidson claimed two fees with the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal. First, he wanted $1,031 as compensation for the seat downgrade. Second, he sought $400 under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) for the delay that caused him to arrive in Phoenix approximately 4.5 hours late.

Compensation for the seat downgrade

When WestJet rebooked Davidson’s flight from Calgary to Phoenix after his first flight was delayed, there were no Premium Class seats available on the new flight. According to the decision, the airline acknowledged that Davidson was entitled to a refund for the downgrade but argued that his claim should be limited to $160.

WestJet told the court that the total cost of Davidson’s round trip was $1,152.14 and that the refund should be determined by the applicable portion of the ticket that covered the flight segment from Calgary to Phoenix.

That’s when the airline started to do some calculations.

First, the airline narrowed his claim to the $575.07 cost of his outbound flights. Then, the airline calculated that the mileage of Davidson’s rebooked flight made up 81% of the total distance travelled on the outbound flights and told the court that this percentage of the base fare should be the amount considered in the refund.

Since the APPR describes that refunds should cover the “applicable portion” of the ticket, the court accepted WestJet’s calculations, and the amount considered in the refund was $466.62.

However, the court found on a judgment basis that Davidson was entitled to 50% of the cost of the applicable flight section, and WestJet was ordered to reimburse him $233.31 for the seat downgrade.

Compensation for the delay

In addition to the compensation for the seat downgrade, Davidson filed a claim for $400 for his arrival delay in Phoenix.

WestJet disputed his refund claim for the delay, telling the court that the APPR did not apply to this situation as it was a weather delay that was out of the airline’s control.

The airline submitted an irregular operations report as evidence that the flight was delayed due to fog. However, the report also said that Davidson’s flight was delayed due to a combination of fog and an earlier crew delay on a separate flight.

According to the APPR, a delay that is attributable to an earlier delay is only considered outside of the airline’s control if the “carrier took all reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the earlier delay.”

Unfortunately for the airline, the court drew an “adverse inference” against WestJet as it failed to provide evidence that it had taken steps to mitigate the impact of the crew delays on the earlier flight on Davidson’s flight.

The airline was ordered to pay Davidson $400 for his delay.

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The court ordered WestJet to pay Davidson $633.31 in damages for his flight delay and seat downgrade, $45.85 in pre-judgment interest, and $150 in CRT fees.