'We need to get her home': B.C. family stranded in Mexico after WestJet flight cancelled
One B.C. family is desperate to get their daughter home after their WestJet flight from Mexico was cancelled due to a labour dispute.
The cancellation was one of more than 1,000 across the country and stems from a two-day-long mechanics union strike that impacted more than 100,000 travelers, according to the company.
Kristen Williams and her family were supposed to leave Puerto Vallarta Saturday, when they were notified their flight was canceled. Since then, Williams said the family has had no luck finding an alternative route to get back to Terrace.
“I felt really helpless,” she said. “I felt stranded. There's no communication, so we literally felt stuck here.”
Williams said her family has repeatedly called the airline, and approached agents at the WestJet counter for help. She told CTV News the agents told her they are contractors and are therefore unable to rebook the family’s flight.
“Our loved ones are at home worried about us,” Williams said.
She added the earliest they’ll be able to get home is July 7. Her 21-year-old daughter is already overdue for the weekly medication she needs to treat her rheumatoid arthritis.
“We need to get her home,” she said. “I wanted to send my daughter home to a pharmacy because we need her prescription. We can’t fill it here.”
Gabor Lukacs, the president of Air Passengers Rights, said an airline is required to rebook passengers on another flight within 48 hours at their expense – or purchase another ticket on another airline.
“What passengers can do in such a situation if WestJet is refusing to rebook them – as is required by law – is to book a ticket on their own and make WestJet pay for it,” Lukacs said.
As of Tuesday, WestJet said it canceled 1,137 flights since Thursday, and that 125 out of 180 planes are now active again as the airline works to resume normal operations.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6778341.1708561001!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'I got no remorse': Greg Fertuck, convicted of murdering missing spouse, sentenced to life in prison
Greg Fertuck will spend life behind bars with no chance of parole until he is 90 years old, a judge ruled on Thursday at Saskatoon's Court of King's Bench.
'Ford's dry summer begins': All LCBO stores closed as workers go on strike
All LCBO stores are closed on Friday as thousands of workers hit the picket lines after their union and employer failed to reach an agreement.
Britain's Labour on track for landslide victory, exit poll suggests, amid anger with Conservatives
Britain's Labour Party headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll suggested, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval.
Saskatchewan has the lowest hourly minimum wage. How does it stack up to the rest of Canada?
Hourly minimum wages increased in several Canadian provinces this spring with more on the horizon, which economists say will likely impact workers and businesses differently.
Trying to sell or buy a home this summer? What a realtor says you should know
In the first few weeks of summer, the real estate sector is experiencing an upturn marked by more housing inventory, a Canadian realtor says
No Frills grocery stores drop 'multi-buy' offer
As receipts tick ever higher for Canadians at the grocery store and shoppers continue to search for savings, one Canadian grocer has ended a perceived deal.
Hurricane Beryl churns toward Mexico after leaving destruction in Jamaica and eastern Caribbean
After leaving a trail of destruction across the eastern Caribbean and at least nine people dead, Hurricane Beryl weakened as it chugged over open water toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday, going from the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic to Category 2 by the afternoon.
CSIS director David Vigneault stepping down after seven years on the job
David Vigneault says he is stepping down from his job at the head of Canada’s spy agency. The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who spent seven years at the helm, is leaving the public service altogether.
Biden tells Democratic governors he needs more sleep and plans to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m.
U.S. President Joe Biden told Democratic governors during a meeting at the White House on Wednesday that part of his plan going forward is to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m. so that he can get more sleep, according to three sources briefed on his comments.