Air passenger rights group sues WestJet over 'misleading information'

A lawsuit has been launched against WestJet over a “cap” the airline has put in place on how much it will pay passengers if they need meals and hotel stays, which a passenger rights group says is illegal.

"We just want to put money back in people's pockets that belongs to the passengers to begin with," said Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passenger Rights, the group that filed the lawsuit in British Columbia over WestJet's reimbursement policies.

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According to the WestJet website, it states there is a cap of $150 or $200 for non-Canadian destinations per night for hotel stays and a $45 cap per day for meal expenses.

The group says those caps are against the law.

"There is nothing within the law that would provide WestJet with an excuse to not fully cover passengers' meals and accommodations when a flight is disrupted for reasons completely within the carrier's control," Lukacs explained.

Generally, if a flight is cancelled, an airline will provide vouchers for food and hotel rooms, or you may have to pay for them yourself and be reimbursed at a later date by the airline.

John Gradek, an aviation expert with McGill University, said finding a hotel at the last minute for $150 is extremely difficult to do.

“in July, if you were in Vancouver you could not get hotel room for under $500 and if you were in Toronto during the [Honda] Indy racing event you couldn’t find a hotel for under $400, so it depends on the city you're in," he said.

In the lawsuit, the passenger rights group is calling for WestJet to remove the cap information from its website and to stop responding with it when passengers seek compensation.

"We would like to make sure this misleading information is removed from WestJet’s website," said Lukacs.

When CTV News Toronto reached out to WestJet about the lawsuit, a spokesperson said the airline does not comment on matters before the court.

Passengers should also be aware they are entitled to compensation if their flight is delayed if the delay is something that is within the airline’s control. If it's a three-to-six hour delay, you should get $400, six-to-nine hours $700 and if it's nine hours or more you can get compensated $1,000.