Decision No. 149-C-A-2022

December 22, 2022

Application by Cara Garlow and Casey Garlow (applicants) against WestJet (respondent), regarding cancelled reservations

Case number: 
21-50129

[1] The applicants purchased two separate tickets to travel with the respondent:

  • from Houston, Texas, to Paris, France, via Calgary, Alberta, on June 5, 2020; and
  • from Paris to Houston via Calgary on June 18, 2020.

[2] The applicants purchased the Econo fare tickets on February 15, 2020, and February 20, 2020. They then decided to cancel the tickets on April 22, 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondent provided them with the value of their tickets in the form of a travel bank flight credit.

[3] The applicants seek a refund of the tickets.

[4] In this decision, the role of the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) is to decide whether the respondent properly applied the terms and conditions that were applicable to the tickets that the applicants purchased, as set out in its Tariff.

[5] If the Agency finds that the respondent failed to properly apply its Tariff, the Agency can direct it to take the corrective measures that the Agency considers appropriate or to pay compensation for any expense incurred by the applicants as a result of the respondent’s failure.

Preliminary matter

[6] The applicants request confidentiality under section 31 of the Canadian Transportation Agency Rules (Dispute Proceedings and Certain Rules Applicable to All Proceedings) (Rules) with respect to “any passport numbers, credit card numbers or address, phone numbers or emails” disclosed by either party during the pleadings process.

[7] The open court principle applies to the Agency when it undertakes dispute adjudication proceedings like this one. This principle requires that, with limited exceptions, proceedings and their associated records be made public. To obtain a confidentiality order over information that is relevant to a proceeding, the person must establish that the order meets the three-part test articulated in Sherman Estate v Donovan (Sherman):

(1) court openness poses a serious risk to an important public interest;

(2) the order sought is necessary to prevent this serious risk to the identified interest because reasonably alternative measures will not prevent this risk; and

(3) as a matter of proportionality, the benefits of the order outweigh its negative effects.

[8] The Agency varies section 31 to conform with the approach to court openness articulated in Sherman Estate, pursuant to subsection 5(2) and section 6 of the Rules. Accordingly, a person seeking confidentiality over information that is relevant to the dispute proceeding must establish all of the three prerequisites outlined above for the threshold to be met under section 31 of the Rules.

[9] As the test applies only to information that is relevant to a case, sensitive personal information, such as full passport numbers and credit card numbers, would not be subject to the test; however, the Agency notes that no such information was disclosed in this case. The other personal identifying information in question—including addresses, phone numbers and email addresses—is not highly sensitive such that disclosure of the information would be an affront to the applicants’ dignity. This alone is sufficient to conclude that there is no serious risk to the important public interest in privacy defined in Sherman. Accordingly, the Agency denies the request.

Cancelled reservations

[10] The applicants claim that they requested a refund for the tickets online and were informed that they were not eligible to receive a refund. The applicants argue that they should be refunded because the respondent eventually cancelled the flights they were scheduled to travel on.

[11] The respondent submits that the applicants’ flights were cancelled on May 11, 2020, after the applicants cancelled their reservations. Accordingly, the respondent argues that the applicants’ cancellation is considered voluntary and falls under the fare rules applicable to the non-refundable Econo fares that they purchased. This fare provides that the tickets are only refundable to the applicants’ travel bank. The respondent therefore submits that the applicants are not entitled to any refund to the original form of payment, except for a refund of their pre-reserved seat fees.

[12] The Tariff provides that when a passenger decides to not use their ticket and cancels the reservation, the passenger may not be entitled to a refund, depending on any refund condition attached to the particular fare.

[13] With respect to non-refundable, non-Basic tickets cancelled more than 24 hours after purchase, the Tariff provides that travel bank flight credit provided for these tickets shall include all amounts paid by the passenger in association with the fare. It shall also include all refundable fees for unused services, such as advanced seat selection.

[14] The respondent provided copies of the applicants’ electronic ticket history and travel bank record, which indicate that the fares and seat selection fees that the applicants paid on both reservations have been provided to them as flight credit.

[15] In light of the above, the Agency finds that the applicants are not entitled to a refund of their tickets to the original form of payment. However, the Tariff provides that passenger-initiated cancellations of a reservation where a seat selection fee has been collected will result in the seat selection fee being refundable. The Agency, therefore, finds that the applicants are entitled to a refund of the seat selection fees paid for both reservations.

Order

[16] The Agency orders the respondent to refund the applicants in the amount of USD 483 as soon as possible and no later than February 7, 2023.


Legislation or Tariff referenced Numeric identifier (section, subsection, rule, etc.)
Air Transportation Regulations, SOR/88-58 110(4); 113.1(1)
International Passenger Rules and Fares Tariff WS1 containing Local Rules, Fares and Charges on behalf of WestJet Applicable to the Transportation of Passengers and Baggage between points in United States/Canada And points in Area 1/2/3 and between the US and points in Canada, CTA 518 15(C); 15(C)(1)(A); 15(C)(1)(c); 70(C)(4); 105(A)

Member(s)

Mary Tobin Oates
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