Canadian airlines accused of ignoring COVID precautions, denying refunds

TORONTO When Bobbi Jo Green booked a flight back in May for her, her husband, and her children to see two ailing family members, she was counting on the airline’s physical distancing rules to still be in place.

But just three weeks before Green and her family were set to fly from Edmonton to Sydney, N.S., on July 17, Westjet announced it was ending its policy of leaving the middle seats on its flights empty.

“I was devastated,” Green said, noting her family spends every summer in Nova Scotia with her 93-year-old grandmother who is suffering from dementia and another family member with an incurable form of cancer. “We all knew it could very well be the last summer we would spend with them.”

When Green called Westjet to see if any accommodations could be made, she told the company she has a heart condition that puts her in the high-risk category for COVID-19.

Despite her pleas, Green said the airline told her it was unable to make any special accommodations, nor would it allow her to change the date of the flight to before July 1, when the rules were relaxed, without paying a fee.

And Green is not alone: As provinces begin to relax domestic travel restrictions, the cessation of physical distancing rules by two of Canada’s biggest airlines — Westjet and Air Canada — is causing frustration and grief among some passengers.

Gabor Lukacs, head of the advocacy group Air Passenger Rights Canada, said he has fielded countless complaints from passengers during the COVID -19 pandemic, many of which are related to the same issues: Airlines refusing to offer refunds or accommodations amid the abolition of physical distancing rules.

While he acknowledges the effort to fill seats is due to airlines attempting to recoup billions in lost revenue, Lukacs argues the companies risk deterring customers from flying at all.

There’s some evidence he’s right: A new poll conducted by Leger and the Association of Canadian Studies found 72 per cent of respondents say they are not comfortable flying now that Air Canada and Westjet have culled their seat distancing policies.

Only 22 per cent said they would be OK with flying under the newly relaxed rules.