A Kelowna man, whose flight was cancelled because of a crew shortage, has successfully sued WestJet after the airline failed to present any evidence to support its claim.

According to a Sept. 12 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Samrat Kooner was due to board a flight from Vancouver to Kelowna in December 2022, when WestJet cancelled the flight 20 minutes before departure.

He stayed in a hotel that night before boarding a bus the next day to Kelowna.

The decision said WestJet refunded the $143 Kooner paid for the flight, but denied his claim for $1,000 compensation under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations.

The Canadian Air Passenger Protection Regulations stipulate that if a flight is delayed more than nine hours, and the delay is within the airline’s control, then passengers are entitled to $1,000 compensation.

However, WestJet argued the cancellation was for safety purposes, and therefore it wasn’t required to pay compensation.

“It would not have been safe to operate the flight without the required number of flight attendants on board,” the airline said in the decision.

However, the Tribunal wasn’t so sure.

“WestJet must do more than merely assert that the crew shortage required WestJet to cancel the flight for safety reasons. The evidence must show this was the case,” the Tribunal said.

The decision said between Dec. 18 and 24, 2022, snow affected Vancouver airport, and 1,300 flights out of 4,100 were cancelled.

However, the Tribunal pointed out that Kooner’s flight was on Dec. 18, the day it started snowing.

“This evidence is not, without more, sufficient to show the cancellation was required for safety purposes,” the Tribunal ruled.

A WestJet report noted the flight was cancelled because of “crew” which was “controllable.”

The Tribunal said the report provided few details about the actual flight Kooner was supposed to be on.

The airline also cited Aviation Regulations, which state that planes have to have one flight attendant for every 40 or 50 passengers, depending on the model of airplane.

Again, the Tribunal ruled this didn’t show how many flight attendants were available to WestJet when the flight was cancelled.

“It also does not show what efforts WestJet took to meet its duty to mitigate the effects of the crew shortage,” the Tribunal said. “I find it unproven that WestJet’s cancellation was required for safety reasons.”

After the Tribunal ruled WestJet was at fault, the airline argued it should only have to pay $400, not $1,000, as it had given him a refund.

However, the Tribunal didn’t buy it.

“WestJet cancelled Mr. Kooner’s flight and took no steps to rebook the flight until he asked it to, two days later. I find WestJet essentially undermined its own efforts to provide alternate travel arrangements for Mr. Kooner,” the Tribunal ruled.

Ultimately, the Tribunal ordered WestJet to pay $1,000 compensation, minus the $147 it had already paid for the refund. It also ordered WestJet to pay $266 to cover his hotel and meal bills, but declined to make the airline pay the $93 bus ticket from Vancouver to Kelowna.