Imagine trying to check into your flight only to realize someone else had taken your spot by using your name. That’s exactly what happened to Vancouver resident Jonathan Sutherland when he attempted to catch his plane from Calgary to Vancouver on Sunday.
After failing to check in at a self-serve kiosk, Sutherland spoke with a WestJet agent and was informed that the plane had taken off with someone else in his place.
The agent even argued with Sutherland claiming he had already left on an earlier flight.
“I advised her that was incorrect. I was standing right there,” he said in an interview with Global News.
Despite the many checks in place, including an ID check before claiming a boarding pass, as well as a final check before boarding the plane, someone else was able to snatch his spot without WestJet spotting the error.
Sutherland had regarded the whole situation as an administrative error, but after speaking with WestJet’s head office, he was told that an agent had checked him into an earlier flight because a different passenger had a similar last name.
WestJet released the following statement to Global News about the whole ordeal:
“WestJet sincerely apologizes to the guest for his experience this past Sunday. All guests are screened through airport security so there was no safety risk to the public. We are reviewing the incident with the agents involved.”
Sutherland filed a report with the Calgary police and hopes that this incident does not happen again.
“My concern is that if the individual that was sitting on the plane as me did anything or caused any concerns, it would be me who would be held accountable for it, as my name was on that reservation.”
Written by: Crystal Scuor
