‘We really had no choice’: A Saskatchewan family’s 48-hour WestJet travel nightmare

A weekend trip to a concert in Toronto ended with a long and stressful journey home for Saskatoon resident Khalin Mangampo and her family.

Mangampo said her group was scheduled to leave Toronto Pearson Airport on Saturday night, but just hours before boarding she received a message from WestJet saying their flight had been disrupted due to a strike by flight attendants.

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“At first, I thought, ‘OK, maybe it’ll be delayed. Whatever.’ Didn’t think much of it,” she said.

But that quickly changed. Mangampo said more notifications followed, eventually confirming the flight had been cancelled, resulting in an unplanned, two-day stay in Toronto.

“I had a lot of options to reschedule and rebook myself,” she explained. “But I didn’t realize that it was going to be for the second, because we were supposed to leave on the first.”

With another flight scheduled for the next morning, Mangampo said she and her family tried to make the best of the situation. They looked for somewhere to stay overnight, but rising prices made that difficult.

“For just one night it would have been over $800,” she said. “So we decided, ‘Why not? (The flight is) at 10 a.m. in the morning. It probably starts boarding at eight. Let’s just sleep in the airport.’”

She said it was an uncomfortable night for her family.

“We tried to talk to a lot of the agents there, (and) it was very stressful,” Mangampo expressed. “I got the feeling that no one wanted to help, or no one wanted to give help because they really didn’t have much to do.”

Mangampo said she was expecting her family would soon be on the way home, but at around 3 a.m., another message from the airline came through.

“We got another text that our flight was cancelled,” she said.

The family was rescheduled again, only to face more delays and cancellations. Mangampo said each notification brought more uncertainty.

After more than a day of trying to find answers, Mangampo said the hardest part was not knowing what would happen next.

“I was trying to put my best foot forward. ‘It’ll be OK. It’ll be a few more hours,’” she said. “And then they kept doing that to the point where it got to two days of just waiting and doing nothing.”

She said her family eventually found a hotel and continued trying to get home, but the unexpected expenses quickly piled up.

“Over the last two days, I would say over two grand,” she said. “And there’s five of us that were travelling together.”

Mangampo said the costs included accommodation, food, transportation and trying to manage a trip that had extended far beyond what they planned.

But the financial stress was only one part of the experience she said, as the lack of clear communication from WestJet made the situation more frustrating.

“When we did try to find a solution or ask someone for help, it was so stressful,” she said. “They gave me the feeling that ‘I can’t do anything for you. Figure it out.’”

She said she was left feeling confused, upset and helpless. Mangampo said she contacted WestJet support, but faced long wait times and was given only limited information.

“I put up with one hour of being on hold and I was like, ‘This is useless,’” she said. “Nothing’s going to happen out of this.”

Mangampo said her family finally made it home after being rerouted through Halifax to Saskatoon, but they arrived than 48 hours after their original departure time.

Looking back, Mangampo said she hopes airlines can provide more support to passengers when dealing with major disruptions.

“I know the agents at the gates aren’t able to really handle anything,” she said, “but everyone was stressed out, and that kept snowballing.”

For other travellers who find themselves in a similar situation, Mangampo said the biggest lesson she learned is to be prepared and speak up.

“You have to advocate for yourself,” she said. “Don’t shy out on making that file. Even though it seems like nothing’s going to come out of it, just do it anyway.”

Mangampo said she will continue with the claims process, and hopes his experience encourages airlines to improve the ways they communicate during disruptions.

“A strike is one thing,” she said, “but leaving people stranded is another.”

Mangampo said what passengers need most is not just compensation, but reassurance.

“I want that feeling of they’re going to figure something out for me, and I’ll be OK,” she said.

“Compared to waiting and waiting and just being confused.”