He bought 2 Flair tickets to Florida, but the flight didn't exist
Flair Airlines has apologized to the couple for the 'mistake'
An Ottawa Valley man says he's been left confused and frustrated after buying tickets for a Flair Airlines flight that didn't exist and having to fight for months to get a refund.
Jamie Christensen, who lives in Arnprior, Ont., bought two direct tickets from the ultra low-cost carrier back in March for a May trip for himself and his wife. The return flights from Ottawa to Fort Lauderdale cost him $600.
A day before their scheduled take-off, he received the usual email inviting him to check in. Christensen said when he went to do so, he got an error message.
"It assured us on the email and on the website that if we were experiencing any technical difficulties, not to worry about it, that we would be able to check in at the airport," he said.
It's kind of like going into a store and you know, buying a television and then you go in to pick it up and they say 'no, sorry, there's no TV here.- Jamie Christensen
It was only after the couple had packed their bags and arrived at the Ottawa airport at 5 a.m. the next day they discovered what was wrong.
Christensen said upon arrival, their flight to Fort Lauderdale wasn't on the listed departures. When the couple approached an attendant at the Flair desk to check in, they were told there was no such flight offered by the airline at that time of year.
"It was just surreal," Christensen said. "It's kind of like going into a store and you know, buying a television and then you go in to pick it up and they say 'no, sorry, there's no TV here.'"
After consulting another agent over the phone, the couple was told their only option was to contact the airline's customer support line. There was no offer to refund or rebook them on an alternate flight to Florida, said Christensen.
"There was like no help whatsoever for our situation and we were pretty much left to fend for ourselves to find our way down there. It was very strange."
Christensen and his wife ended up booking flights to Orlando for later that day with another airline. It cost nearly triple the amount of their original tickets and added layovers that had them arriving much later than planned, he said.
The couple filed a complaint online seeking a refund. Customer support staff initially told them they didn't qualify for one because they were never charged, despite the couple having both a receipt and credit card statement showing otherwise.
More than two months later following several email exchanges, Christensen said they finally got their money back for the tickets but he believes they should also be compensated for the additional costs of their trip.
Flair says 'a mistake was made'
The company has since apologized "for any inconvenience experienced."
"The vast majority of Flair Airlines customers have a great experience with Flair, but a mistake was made in this case," read an emailed statement attributed to an unnamed Flair spokesperson.
The airline did not provide an explanation for how such a mistake was made.
The statement went on to say that the airline "is responsible for clearly communicating schedule changes and, where appropriate, a prompt refund, and this didn't happen in a satisfactory and clear manner for the couple."
The spokesperson said it has reached out to the couple directly "to try to make it right" but Christensen said he had yet to receive any such message from the airline.
More oversight needed, says expert
The incident comes as Flair grapples with its reputation as the worst airline in dealing with passenger complaints, according to federal data from the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA).
From January to March of this year, the CTA received 20.9 complaints for every 100 Flair flights. That compares to 10.7 for WestJet and 5.8 for Air Canada.
While cases of airlines selling non-existent flights are not that common it "does seem to be an evolving practice," said John Gradek, a former airline executive and McGill University lecturer.
He said low-cost carriers tend to "float" flights, meaning they will promote and sell seats to a destination they think will be popular. But if the airline hasn't sold enough tickets closer to the date of departure, they'll cancel the trip. In most cases, customers are then notified and given a refund, said Gradek.
While the CTA works to improve passenger protection in the case of flight cancellations or delays, Gradek said the regulator should be keeping a closer eye on ultra low-cost carriers.
"There really isn't any regulatory oversight or any administrative oversight about the actual selling practices associated with carriers such as Flair," he said.
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