Should WestJet have accommodated these people?

[theyeti]

plane was 19 minutes early they had 27 minutes to get the ppl aboard .

[French Castanut]

Have any of you people complaining even flown before?

Assuming the flight arrived 19 minutes early and the people here arrived 26 minutes before the plane was to leave there was (all things being equal) a 7 minute window .

It's not because they arrived early that they shouldn't leave on time.

Thank youguys, that was an entertaining thread, I'm outta here now, I have a plane to run after.

[Bsuds]

the guy is in a wheel chair it probably takes a little longer to get places and do stuff ..

Exactly so being an intelligent person he would allow more time to get to the Airport and get through security and on the plane. Don't you think that would be a plan?

[Whyme2]

French castanut!
You mention a few posts ago that traveling to yvr wouldn't require much luggage especially if they were most likely returning to klw the same day. Where do you suppose they put this power wheel chair in no time flat? Maybe the overhead bin? WestJet operates Boeng 737 not cruise ships

[theyeti]

i agree it was his fault not early enuff but west jet looks horrible in this . add to that the woman in toronto human rites complaint over a haircut i think this trumps a hair cut so must be good money in it for this poor man in a wheel chair . now i agree it was gonna be tuff for west jet but they could have made a bit of effort to help this man get to vancouver im sure the plane was not jam packed . even if it was im sure someone would have gladly given up a seat and spent a few hrs in kelowna in order to help this man . pretty shallow that ppl think a policy over powers peoples willingness to help others

alot of bad goes on and gets swept under the rug as policy

[Fancy]

It's not because they arrived early that they shouldn't leave on time.

They didn't arrive early - they arrived late and missed their plane because of that. They also knew better. They are lucky to have received a refund and to complain about it smacks again of self-entitlement. They knew they had luggage, they knew there was a wheelchair to deal with, they knew they had to be there and boarded before the other passengers so why do they expect people to feel sorry for them?

[LordEd]

If you have a 'critical' appointment date, go a day early. If I had a life-changing appointment that took months to make, I would be in a nearby hotel the night before unless there was no alternative.

We left on a cruise out of Vancouver. The ship wouldn't be waiting for us, so we stayed within reasonable driving distance. There could have been a major accident and we would still have had plenty of time. There is no way we would arrive day-of. Anything can happen getting from point A to point B. The shorter the distance, the less difficult it is to accommodate potential delays.

[Fancy]

Great point LordEd - there is no way I would have had any of my family members miss out on such an important appointment.

It doesn't seem the airline was even notified of the wheelchair.

WestJet suggests that guests who use wheelchairs notify us at least 24 hours prior to departure

[Bsuds]

We sat in a plane that was delayed by almost an hour while cargo crew figured out how to get a motorized wheelchair in the cargo hold cause it was an awkward fit.

They finally got it on but at one point they were going to remove the passenger.

They need time to do this kind of stuff and to arrive less than 30 min before "Departure" and not "Boarding" is just not acceptable.

[coffeeFreak]

On the other hand, I wonder how many people have missed their flights because the plane leaves early. I remember one flight out of Kelowna where I still had 10 minutes to boarding, yet was paged (I was past security and I'm not sure how I missed the boarding call, except maybe I ignored it because it was so much earlier than it should have been). I was apparently the last one to board and as soon as I was seated we left a half hour early.

Not to make excuses for these folks though. IMO, Westjet is one of the most accommodating airlines, so I think there has to be more to this story than the hard luck one these "seasoned" travelers are giving.

[Fancy]

I've had to double check gates as they get changed from time to time after going through security. I never take anything for granted.

the guy is in a wheel chair it probably takes a little longer to get places and do stuff .. i think west jet looks aweful in this , all u ppl who feel u r so much smarter than this guy make me sick .

the plane arrived 19 minutes early !

if i were the guy id file some sort of human rites complaint like the woman in toronto did . get some hotshot lawyer and make west jet pay

Westjet looks good in this - they gave the refund. The fact that they weren't there at the 45 minute cut off time is the point. Who did you think was going to load the baggage? And yes, the guy in the wheelchair does take longer to get to places and do stuff so they should have notified the airline as suggested and been there an hour ahead of schedule to make sure they would get to their destination on time.

[Hassel99]

i agree it was his fault not early enuff but west jet looks horrible in this . add to that the woman in toronto human rites complaint over a haircut i think this trumps a hair cut so must be good money in it for this poor man in a wheel chair . now i agree it was gonna be tuff for west jet but they could have made a bit of effort to help this man get to vancouver im sure the plane was not jam packed . even if it was im sure someone would have gladly given up a seat and spent a few hrs in kelowna in order to help this man . pretty shallow that ppl think a policy over powers peoples willingness to help others

alot of bad goes on and gets swept under the rug as policy

I think west jet looks great in this story and it apears the majority agrees. I do chuckle when someone through there own failure runs to the media to cry about mistreatment and it backfires. Take responsibility for your own actions!

[John500]

What is wrong by being on time. And in a special case like this, be well on time. Anyone to blame except themselves.

[Dizzy1]

What's even sadder is one can check in online or with your mobile up to 24 hours before the flight. When one purchases a ticket with an airline, you agree to accept their terms and conditions of carriage, which inculdes check-in and boarding cut off times. In this case, cut off time to check-in was 45 minutes and boarding time was 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. They broke the cut off times, you snooze you loose (no pun intended ).

I have a feeling this isn't the first time they were late, but most likey the first time the airline stood by the rules, hence the passengers crying the old "boo hoo, poor us".

[Always Sunny]

plane was 19 minutes early they had 27 minutes to get the ppl aboard .

Still having a hard time processing this?

All things being equal, if they arrived 26 minutes before the original departure and this plane arrived 19 minutes before the original intended arrival, it means the plane left approximately 7 minutes after they got to the counter. I'm willing to bet my exit row aisle seat that all necessary checks, door closures, pressurization etc. had occurred already. That's why it's not so simple at that point to go back and board anyone, wheel chair or not.