7 Swoop flights cancelled due to damaged plane

The ultra-low-cost airline Swoop says it will reimburse the cost of tickets for passengers who book on other airlines after it cancelled seven flights this week due to a damaged plane.

The cancellations included a flight from Winnipeg to Kelowna, B.C., on Monday, after which passengers were rescheduled for flights up to a week later.

Crews discovered damage to the plane's body that day and grounded the plane for repair, Swoop president Steven Greenway said in a written statement.

The airline, which is owned by WestJet, cancelled seven flights in total, affecting services to and from Kelowna, Winnipeg, Abbotsford, B.C., Edmonton, Las Vegas, Hamilton, Ont., and Orlando.

The damaged plane will return to service Thursday, Greenway said.

"Safety will always be at the forefront of our decision-making and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to our impacted travellers," Greenway wrote.

Greenway said those affected can rebook on the next available Swoop flight, or rebook on another airline. Swoop will reimburse the cost of tickets, as long as they're in the same class of service, he said.

Any travellers delayed more than three hours have received meal, hotel and transportation vouchers, he said.

'No clear information'

Passengers have slammed the airline on social media, saying they received little notice before the cancellations and couldn't contact the airline's call centre, which is only open during weekday business hours.

Anika Scheurer, 24, was forced to re-book with WestJet after Swoop re-scheduled her cancelled Monday flight from Kelowna to a flight a week later on Sept. 2.

She said the support from Swoop was meagre at best.

"The process was just really scattered. There was no clear information," said Scheurer, who noted that staff tended to be kind once she got through to them.

The airline has had a checkered history since launching in June 2018, including the abrupt cancellation of 30 flights in July.

Gabor Lukacs, founder of the non-profit organization Air Passenger Rights, said offering alternative transportation to passengers the following week is "unreasonable and unjustifiable."

He said the airline has a duty to find reasonable alternatives for its passengers if a flight is cancelled and it can't be blamed on an act of God — and that includes arranging flights on other airlines if necessary.

Karla Davis of the Better Business Bureau suggests passengers study the company's history of managing flight cancellations before booking low-fare deals. 

"You want to be able to determine what are their options for you if a flight is delayed or cancelled? What is their ability, and the resources they have, to be able to put you on another flight as quickly as possible," she said. 

"A lot of times with the lower-budget airlines, part of their ability to offer you a lower fare does come with the fact that they have reduced [some services]."

For "unreasonable" cancellations or delays, Davis said, passengers can contact organizations like the Canadian Transportation Agency or the Better Business Bureau for help with complaints.