Some WestJet customers still waiting on refunds for flights cancelled in 2020

Two years after the pandemic ruined their travel plans, several frustrated WestJet customers say they're still waiting for refunds — or confirmation they even qualify for one — after the airline cancelled their flights or vacation packages in 2020.

The customers complained of difficulties trying to communicate with WestJet about their cases and suggested the airline was trying to make it hard for them to collect their cash. 

"I think they're just trying to hang on to our money," said Susan Andrews of Mississauga, Ont.

Andrews and her husband, Jim Scott, paid $7,031 for a vacation package for themselves and two family members to Cancun, departing in April 2020. Due to the pandemic, WestJet cancelled the trip and gave the couple a travel credit. 

They wanted a refund instead and have been trying to collect it for almost two years.

"We feel completely ripped off," said Andrews. "They don't care about us."

When the pandemic was declared in March 2020, WestJet suspended all international flights and provided affected customers with credit for a future trip. Following public outcry, the airline changed its tune in October 2020, announcing it would offer customers refunds for flights the airline had cancelled. 

"We are an airline that has built its reputation on putting people first," said then-CEO Ed Sims in a statement. 

In July 2021, the airline extended the refund offer to people whose vacation packages had been cancelled.

Andrews and her husband initially applied for a refund in June 2020, but it was rejected. They reapplied in November 2021. 

Andrews said the couple has reached out to WestJet numerous times, and when they finally made contact with the company on social media, they were only told that their application is in the queue and has yet to be reviewed. WestJet told CBC News this week that's still the case.

"I've been in the customer service industry my whole life and have never seen anything like this," said Andrews, a semi-retired insurance agent. 

In an email to CBC News, WestJet acknowledged it has "a backlog of refund requests," and blamed the pandemic and a busy holiday travel season. It offered an apology to customers who have experienced long delays. 

"We recognize the frustration being felt by some of our guests as we work to expedite outstanding refund requests," said Madison Kruger, a WestJet spokesperson.