Flair Airline flight from Vancouver to Arizona canceled due to bird strike

A flight scheduled to travel from Vancouver to Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday was cancelled due to a bird strike, according to Flair Airlines.

Josh Rimer, one of the travelers impacted by the cancellation of flight F8208, told CTV News he wasn't informed of the cancellation until about an hour after the flight was supposed to take off.

"It's been frustrating and exhausting and disheartening that I'm losing time away from my family," he said.

Rimer said he was informed he would be rebooked for another flight one week later.

"They won't put me on another airline. And they won't let me go there another direction...They're like ‘You have to do the exact same flight that you're already doing," he said.

"I will never book a low budget airline like this again. I wanted to save a bit of money and I thought 'Why not?’ Well I found out why not. If I was on a major airline that had multiple flights, I would be pushed back by a few hours, not a few days," Rimer said.

Fortunately, he managed to get rebooked for a flight this Friday after spending hours speaking with agents.

In a statement to CTV News, Flair Airlines said, "A slat, which is a device on the leading edge of the wing, was damaged and will be replaced."

"The airlines sincerely regrets the inconvenience to passengers," it continued.

The discount airline has been facing some heat lately after four of its aircrafts were seized over the weekend in what was described as a “commercial dispute," which led to several cancelled flights across the country.