WestJet to provide refunds for flights they cancelled due to COVID-19

WestJet has announced they will now provide refunds for flights that they had to cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Customers will only be eligible if the decision to cancel was made by the airline, and not the customer.

WestJet had previously offered refunds for specific flights only, with future flight credit available for the majority of cancelled flights.

Starting on Nov. 2 they will begin contacting any eligible guests. They will start with guests whose flights were cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic in March and will continue on in chronological order.

The entire process is expected to take six to nine months to work through all the eligible requests. The airline says they are expecting an administrative backlog during the process.

The company says refunds will also apply to flights cancelled by Swoop, a low-cost carrier that is owned by WestJet. All refunds will be in the original form of payment.

The airline says that they saw 72 straight days where cancellations outnumbered new bookings. Something that hasn’t happened in the history of the companies near 25-year existence.

WestJet CEO Ed Sims says the company has made it a priority to hear the public.

“We have heard loud and clear from the travelling public that in this COVID world they are looking for reassurance on two front: the safest possible travel environment; and refunds. We are confident that we can now begin providing refunds proactively. We are the first national airline in Canada to do so.”

The statement of being the first airline to refund fares led the airlines top competitor to respond on Twitter, accusing WestJet of being misleading.

WestJet responded to Air Canada from their own Twitter account to clarify they are offering refunds specifically for guests if the airline themselves cancelled the flight.

Let’s clear the air. We're offering refunds for guests if we cancelled their flight. Even the lowest cost tickets will be refunded to original form of payment if WestJet caused the cancellation.

— WestJet (@WestJet) October 22, 2020