{"id":502525,"date":"2026-02-27T06:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T06:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502525\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T06:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T06:56:14","slug":"canadians-stranded-in-puerto-vallarta-after-violence-disrupts-flights-home-to-edmonton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502525\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadians stranded in Puerto Vallarta after violence disrupts flights home to Edmonton"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Days after violence erupted in Puerto Vallarta and disrupted travel plans for many Canadians, some families are still trying to find a way home.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/70c8fc80.png\" alt=\"\" style=\"position:absolute;width:1px;height:1px\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"\/><\/p>\n<p>That includes travellers attempting to return to Edmonton, who say they have been scrambling to secure flights since before the unrest began last Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The Wywrot family was scheduled to wrap up their vacation in the popular Mexican resort city and fly home to Edmonton on a WestJet flight Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'British Columbians say WestJet has \u2018ghosted\u2019 them after being stranded in Mexico'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WEB_CS_CM_STRANDED_IN_MEXICO.png\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3:46<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBritish Columbians say WestJet has \u2018ghosted\u2019 them after being stranded in Mexico\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore we were supposed to fly out we kept getting notifications that our flight kept getting delayed,\u201d said Joselina Wywrot in an interview from Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The Wywrots, along with fellow passengers the Benson family, say the flight was eventually rescheduled for Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767930311_275_national.jpg\" alt=\"For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n<p>For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.<\/p>\n<p>That same day, a military operation targeting a Mexican cartel leader sparked retaliation in the area, with reports of violence, road closures and airport disruptions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cViolence happened, flights were cancelled, roads were closed, airports shut down and we\u2019ve been stuck here ever since,\u201d said John Wywrot.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Canadians rethink travel to winter destinations'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NN_TRAVEL_HEADACHE.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5:35<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCanadians rethink travel to winter destinations\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Widespread airline cancellations included the rebooked flight both families were set to take. As of Thursday, they remained in Puerto Vallarta trying to get home.<\/p>\n<p>WestJet has been providing hotel accommodations, but the families say the prolonged delay is taking a toll.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople are running out of medication, kids are now missing school, there\u2019s lost wages,\u201d John Wywrot said.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11706880\/canadian-woman-still-skiing-at-95\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772175373_482_Screenshot-2026-02-25-210027.png\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t95-year-old Canadian skier still on the slopes after eight decades\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11705936\/jasper-bearcats-danica-hills-kayla-peacock\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772175373_81_HINTON-DEATHS-WEB.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tBest friends who played on Jasper hockey team remembered as \u2018bright shining lights\u2019\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs says federal regulations require airlines to rebook passengers on one of their own flights within 48 hours of a cancellation.<\/p>\n<p>If that is not possible, he said, airlines must offer passengers the choice of a refund or rebooking on the next available flight with any carrier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf there was any flight out of Puerto Vallarta with seats available on it, then the passengers should have been in those seats,\u201d Lukacs said.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, WestJet said it is \u201cadding flights to accommodate returning guests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs of Thursday, we have scheduled a total of 12 additional flights and are looking at options to add more depending on demand,\u201d the airline said.<\/p>\n<p>WestJet also said an agent booked the Wywrot family on a return flight for Friday over the phone. The family disputes that, saying they secured the booking themselves in an effort to end what they describe as an exasperating wait.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the unknown that\u2019s frustrating,\u201d said Sandra Benson.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Saskatoon resident shares experience in Mexico following cartel-related violence'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mexico_crime.png\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4:21<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSaskatoon resident shares experience in Mexico following cartel-related violence\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\tPrevious Video<\/p>\n<p>\t\tNext Video<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore on Canada<br \/>\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Days after violence erupted in Puerto Vallarta and disrupted travel plans for many Canadians, some families are still&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752,1072,198532],"class_list":{"0":"post-502525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-edmonton","11":"tag-mexico","12":"tag-puerto-vallarta"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502525","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=502525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}