TORONTO — Out-of-pocket travellers are crying foul and airline passenger rights advocates and legal experts are weighing in after allegations of plane swapping amid denied air passenger compensation claims.

In one case, two WestJet passengers were originally scheduled to fly home to Edmonton from Los Cabos but forced to re-route through Victoria, B.C. with a hotel night. When they applied for compensation in the wake of their cancelled flight and associated extra costs, they were told the cancellation was due to “unscheduled maintenance required for safety” and therefore not applicable for compensation.

CBC’s investigative team, Go Public, says it analyzed flight data that shows that WestJet logged an aircraft switch for the flight – as it turns out, aircraft that had been grounded for two days – and then, at the exact same minute, the flight was updated to Cancelled.

Go Public notes that according to records, the original aircraft was then reassigned to another route.

As the CBC notes, under the APPR delays of more than nine hours can trigger compensation of up to $1,000, but only in cases where the cancellation is within the airline’s control and not required for safety.

Go Public says it heard from dozens of air travellers since it ran a report of a similar incident in its March 2026 coverage.

The CBC articles are here and here.

Earlier this month the federal government said it plans to quadruple to $1 million the maximum fine for airlines that repeatedly violate passengers’ rights. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said fining airlines is a last resort but the current system isn’t working.

“The system is broken. Decisions by the Canadian Transportation Agency can take years. This is not acceptable. Canadians deserve better,” said MacKinnon.

The federal government also wants to outsource the air passenger complaints process to a third party in a bid to clear the massive backlog at the Canadian Transportation Agency. The backlog, now at more than 97,000, has been growing since the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) came into effect in 2019.