Amid the labour dispute between Air Transat and the Air Line Pilots Association that represents 750 pilots, passengers are nervous about their flight plans if the strike goes through. <\/p>\n
Ellen Braganca, a Toronto resident who\u2019s supposed to travel on Friday to India for her daughter\u2019s wedding \u2014 with connections in Lisbon and New Delhi \u2014 has received no further information from the airline, putting her on edge and her travel plans at risk.<\/p>\n
Braganca told CTV News Toronto the first time she heard about the strike notice was on Dec. 3. She immediately contacted the airline through an email about her situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked them for a refund, as opposed to a credit, because a credit doesn\u2019t really help me at all, because I\u2019m still need that money to be able to pay for new tickets,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cEach day that I wait is a day that (the rates for) flights to India are going up. I want to inform the other airline from Lisbon to Delhi that I\u2019m not going to be able to take my flights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Braganca also has a visa for India that is in danger of running out if she doesn\u2019t travel there in the allotted time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did all the right things as a passenger,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re probably going to lose over $4,000.\u201d<\/p>\n
Braganca has repeatedly called the airline\u2019s customer service in the last few days, but has not been given any information that could help her manage her flight schedules.<\/p>\n
When she called on Monday, the representative told her he could do nothing to help her and that he was going to \u201chang up\u201d on, Braganca added.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou guys want to help me, and you\u2019re going to hang up on me because you can\u2019t find a solution,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Braganca added that the airline has not updated its website with any new information regarding the strike action, which makes it difficult for passengers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try and do all the right things as passengers, and you\u2019re not giving us the courtesy of making be able to make our decisions,\u201d she added. \u201cBeing held hostage to a ticket \u2026 We\u2019re going to be in a situation over Christmas time. I think I\u2019m almost in tears. I\u2019m so upset.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018How are we going to get home?\u2019<\/p>\n
Shenifa Lahani, another Toronto resident, is currently on an Air Transat vacation package in Punta Cana, with a return flight scheduled for Dec. 12.<\/p>\n
Lahani told CTV News Toronto that the potential strike affecting her flight has caused her confusion and stress, and despite repeated attempts to contact the airline, she has not received any clear information about the status of her flight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been on this emotional roller coaster of \u2018Well, what\u2019s going to happen with our flight on Thursday? How are we going to get home?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t really heard directly from Air Transat, in terms of an email or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Ladhani contacted customer service, she was directed to the airline\u2019s representative at her hotel, which led to more confusion. <\/p>\n
The representative told her Monday that she was supposed to be on a flight back to Toronto that evening, only to later tell her that her flight was later.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlanning for the day to day has now become more difficult for our trip,\u201d Ladhani said.<\/p>\n
She keeps checking the app on her phone but all it shows her is that her flight is scheduled for Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no update in it. It\u2019s just leaving us in a limbo,\u201d Ladhani said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know when we\u2019re going to get home. We don\u2019t know if we\u2019re going to have to stay extra. How much are we going to have to pay out of pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish they would just communicate with us better, more directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the airline released a statement Monday afternoon saying that the flights on Monday have operated as planned, with some travellers who were scheduled to fly on Dec. 10 reaching their destinations due to four additional flights added.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor now, flights scheduled for Dec. 8 operate as planned,\u201d the airline said. \u201cStarting today, we are launching a special program to bring back as many travelers as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also stated that the negotiations with the union representing the pilots continued throughout the night and progress was made.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur priority remains the same: to bring our travellers back home and limit the impact on their travel plans,\u201d the airline said.<\/p>\n
\u2018At the airline\u2019s mercy\u2019<\/p>\n
However, airline passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs told CP24 Sunday that although the airline may offer their passengers various other options, the passengers have no obligation to accept.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recommend they stick to what is in the contract and the law,\u201d Lukacs said. \u201cAs a passenger if you accept some of these goodwill gestures, you are at the airline\u2019s mercy, you don\u2019t have to accept a refund either, you can insist to be put on a competitor airline on the original date or as close as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
He advised that passengers should take a screenshot of the cancellation and give Air Transat a couple hours to rebook them on a different flight, according to the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Air Transat doesn\u2019t use that chance to rebook you on its own or competitor airline in accordance with the law, then you buy yourself a ticket and then make Air Transat pay for that extra expense plus any other damages you incur because Air Transat failed its legal obligation to buy you a ticket – it is their obligation to buy you a ticket, not for you to run after them,\u201d Lukacs said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amid the labour dispute between Air Transat and the Air Line Pilots Association that represents 750 pilots, passengers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-333781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}