'Radio silence' from WestJet as B.C. woman's luggage lost for almost 7 weeks

Ever since Erin Machette was in high school, a poster of Irelandhung on her wall.

In June, Machette and her husband finallytravelled to the land of saints and scholars for their 27th anniversary. But when they arrived in Dublin after adelayed and rescheduled flight, their checked baggage was nowhere to be found.

This led to hours spentin customer service lines, on hold on the phone, and filling out online compensation forms and emails.

Her luggage has now been missing for almost seven weeks.

"We've just had radio silence from WestJet," she saidfrom her home in Port Coquitlam, B.C., about 27 kilometres east of Vancouver.

"Get it together. This is not how you manage a company."

Machette estimates she has lost $6,000 including the luggage and its contents, some of which are irreplaceable, and the expenses they incurred while in Ireland without their belongings.

She isone of the thousands of air passengers in Canada who have beenfrustrated by airlines in light of flight cancellations,delays, and lost baggage.

Disruptions inairline industry behindbaggage delays

It's been a turbulent return to air travel in Canada as pandemicrestrictions ease and airlinesramp up services.

Manylike Machettesay they have lost faith in Canadian airlines whether fromfeeling misledover reasons for the cancellations,denied compensation claims, orlowball offersfor baggage delays.

In the case of delayed and lost baggage, WestJet admits in a statement it has faced challenges as "a result of a myriad of circumstances that include flight delays and cancellations, resource constraints and ground operations."

The Vancouver Airport Authority saidin a statement thatYVRcurrently has a 99 per cent success rate for the delivery of outbound baggage, but "due to delays and disruptions across the global aviation network, we are seeing delays with baggage arriving at YVR."

Both WestJet and the Vancouver Airport Authority say they are working to improve baggage service.

'Hold the airline's feet to the fire'

From January to July, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has received 1,176 baggage-related complaints.

Fortunately, air passengers areprotected byAir Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).In Canada, airlines are required to cover expensesincurred while checked baggagewas delayed.

In the case of lost luggage, airlines must cover the cost of the bags, its contents and the expenses incurred while travelling without it.

The CTA says passengers must file a request for compensationif their luggageis potentially lost, butair passenger rights expert Gbor Lukcswarns that passengers might not always receive the answer they were expecting.

"The knee-jerk answers for airlines in many circumstances will be 'no.' Your job as a passenger is to challenge that and hold the airline's feet to the fire," he said.

If the airline deniesthe request, Lukcs says passengers canfile a claim in small claims court or file a complaint withtheCTA.

Backlog of 15,000 complaints

"Certainly, there's been an uptick in complaints," saidTom Oommen, director general with the CTA, although theagency isn't able to make a direct comparison with previous yearsbecause the APPR only came into effect in 2019 rightbefore the COVID-19 pandemic grounded air travel.

If the complaint is straightforward, Oommen says it should take no more than three weeks to resolve once it's in the hands of an agent.

However, the CTA is currently dealing with a year-long backlog of 15,000 complaints, he says.

"It does take some time to get to that case in the first place."

WATCH | Couple says they're out$6,000 for lost luggage and contents:

Couple says theyre still waiting for misplaced luggage weeks after WestJet flight

2 years ago

Duration 2:24

A B.C. couple says their luggage went missing after a WestJet flight nearly two months ago, and they still haven't been able to get any help yet from the company. Their story is part of a larger problem, as the Canadian Transportation Agency says it has received over 1,100 baggage complaints since January.

The CTA also has the power to fine airlines that violate regulationsthrough administrative policies.

In the 2021-2022 travel year, the CTA found 831 airline violations, but only 11 monetary penalties were administered.

Lukcs says the agency needs to take a firmer stance, adding that fining airlines will encourage them to follow regulations.

"They are not doing their job," Lukcs said. "The Canadian Transportation Agency gets millions of dollars from taxpayers' money to protect the public.

"It baffles me why there is no proper enforcement."

But most complaints aren't black and white, says Oommen, and require interpretation by a panelthrough the complaint process whereas monetary enforcement penalties are preferred when there's an explicit, clear requirement that isn't being followed.