Westjet - how much do they really care?

[Cowtown_Raider]

I'm posting this in support of a friend of mine who send his son on a Westjet flight as an Unaccompanied Minor, something my daughter has done at least a half dozen times since she was five. I've never had a problem and I've always found Westjet to have great customer service, but this incident will make me reconsider sending my kid UM on Westjet because management seems to be doing everything they can to sweep this under the rug. Completely unacceptable.

You can view the site at Westjet - Because Owners Care?

Here is the text:

Westjet, Because Owners Care ?

Please just ignore the name of this website, as it has nothing to do with what you are about to read, it's just a domain name that I already owned.


This page is all about my 7 year old son & his "experience" on July 22nd 2007, flying as an Unaccompanied Minor as a guest of Westjet Airlines. http://www.westjet.com/

Will (William, 7 Years Old, Nearly 8 ) left Calgary International Airport, on a Boeing 737, Sunday morning heading for his grandmother, on Vancouver Island. He was flying as an "unaccompanied minor" (called a "UM"), something he's done 8 times before with no problems or issues.
So, the plane lands in Comox, Will gets out of his seat & walks out of the plane. This is despite he's wearing a tag around his neck showing he's a "UM". Westjet's policy is that UM's should be told to sit & be the last off the plane so that a CSR (Customer Service Rep) can meet them & take them into the terminal & then stay with them until the appointed pickup person shows up, shows proper ID & signs for the UM.

So here we have the flight attendant/attendants screwing up, all they said to Will was, "thanks for flying Westjet, have a nice day". Will walked out of the plane, across the tarmac & into the terminal. He wandered around the terminal for about 20 minutes, by himself, wearing his neck tag until his grandmother shows up, they get his luggage off the conveyor & they walk out of the airport.

My wife. Lorna called Grandma about 6pm to find out how the flight was & was surprised to find out grandma hadn't been asked to show ID or sign anything or hadn't even spoke to an airline rep when she picked up Will. Grandma was late getting there & the plane was already on the ground & unloaded when she walked in to the terminal.

Lorna called Westjet & was told that Will had been "disruptive" on the flight & that the flight attendants couldn't stop him from walking off the plane. She also found out that another UM had also walked off this same flight & had been found some time later by the CSR wandering around the terminal alone. No one is saying when this other kid was found.

I called Westjet too (this is all Sunday evening) & asked for an explanation of what happened & was told that the CSR who was supposed to have met Will, would call me on Monday.

I got the call, the guy was nice & polite but the best answer he could give me was that " by the time he got to the plane, both UM's were already gone & he searched the terminal & could only find one." I asked if this was standard Westjet policy to just give up when a kid couldn't be found.

He assured me that he had notified his supervisor & that the supervisor would follow up & "notify the proper people". I'm assuming this meant Will's mother, father & grandmother who was supposed to be picking him up & failing that, I'd assume the police.

Nothing of the sort was attempted. As far as this airline was concerned, Will was missing & they just didn't give a damn. I asked if they were waiting for the milk carton to come out before they acted but humor seems as rare as common sense around this company.

I did get a call (Tuesday) from the "shift supervisor" from Comox, who wasn't working Sunday or Monday & really had no clue about what had happened. She was quite quick to lay the blame for this on the flight attendant who "shouldn't ever let a UM off a plane, even if they are kicking, screaming & biting". Her exact words & no, no-one is claiming Will or the other kid were doing any of those things.

She said that she would be making a full report & that it would head up to "higher ups" & that I would be contacted ASAP. She then asked me what would "make me happy".

I said the only things I was looking for from this was a full explanation of where their system fell apart & assurances that this wouldn't happen again to him or any other child. I said that their system had huge holes in it if three different levels could fail, at the same time. I also said that I wanted to know if these failures were due to honest mistakes or just gross incompetence. I said I could forgive mistakes but if this happened due to laziness, stupidity or apathy then I would want this employee's/s head/s on a plate.

July 25th, I was just told that the report has been sent to "Internal Security" & that was the end of it as far as I was concerned. I asked if I could contact someone in that Dept & was told "No". I asked the CSR to put a note on the file stating that I wanted to hear from someone from Security & she said that she'd make the note but they wouldn't contact me, it "wasn't my business".

She said that the airline had credited us the UM fee($50) & had even generously tossed in an extra $25 for our troubles & worries.

I don't want their damn money, I want an explanation of how my son got lost by a major airline & nobody gave a damn!!!!

If I did want their damn money, they be about 150 zero's short of what I think would be a proper value for my son's safety.

I'm eternally grateful that nothing happened to him & that he walked away from this pretty much unaware of how dangerous of a situation he was in.

I'm not going to let them sweep this under a rug like they are trying too. How many other kids has this or far, far worse happened to?

My worst fear is that if I let this drop, one day I'll pick up a newspaper & read about another Westjet UM who wasn't as fortunate as my son & was found by the wrong type people in the terminal.

So on Thursday, July 26, I emailed a letter (almost identical to what you have read so far) to Bob Cummings (Executive Vice-President, Guest Experience and Marketing) with the help of a friend who was able to track down his email address. I got a call back within a few hours from Someone who work for Bob (Megan) who said my email was the first that Bob had heard of this "incident." She assured me that they would be all over this & get to the truth ASAP.

So why did the VP of Guest Experience not know about a child that was missing for about 6 hours while in Westjet custody? A child that seems to have slipped through not one, not two but three different cracks in their UM system all in the space of 20 minutes.
Hell, as a matter of fact, Will is still probably still legally in their care due to the fact nothing has ever been signed & they have no clue as to his whereabouts.

Megan asked for a few days to get to the bottom of this & figure out where the mistakes had occurred, she assured me that they would handle this quickly & provide me with answers. We agreed that we would talk again on Tuesday, July 31. Finally I thought I was getting somewhere & that the holes in their UM system would get patched & if there was negligence, incompetence or just plane stupidity on the part of a Westjet employee, someone would be held accountable.

So with no word by 2:30 pm on the Tuesday, I call Megan for an update.

So in the last 4 days that I've/we've been sitting on pins & needles, what far reaching & profound facts have they discovered in their "no stone unturned" investigation of this incident?

Absolutely nothing!!!.

Apparently, Megan has as much pull in the company as the guy who empties the ashtrays outside the terminal, none. She's requested reports from the Comox office & the flight attendants & not a single one of them has bothered to file anything.

Either that or they are trying to sanitize the reports before telling me anything, I'm waffling on which is the truth.

I got off the phone with Megan feeling like I'd just been jerked around completely for the last 11 days.
Are they worried about making sure this doesn't happen to another kid?
Sure doesn't seem like it, they seem to be spending most of their time & effort doing damage control & feeding me a line of BS.

On Wednesday, Aug 2nd I did get a call back from Megan, now things have turned around again. Apparently, she got most of the reports yesterday & also was able to talk to me about what the Internal Security Dept has dug up so far.

Basicly, it's boiling down to the CSR who was supposed to meet Will at the plane & supposedly informed his supervisor that he couldn't find Will & then called me on the Monday, remember him?

Well apparently, the SOB was lying through his teeth.
He missed the plane all right, apparently looked for Will by himself(he told me he had 3 people searching) & then never reported it. He just flipped a coin & took a chance that Will was found by the right people.

I want his head, on a plate, delivered to Calgary.

Either that or Westjet can fly me out to Comox & I'll collect it myself.

OK, I'll settle for his ass being fired from Westjet & him never holding a job where he is responsible for the safety of children again.

So now as of Aug 3, 2007, a full 12 days after Westjet lost my son, I’ve been told I’ll have to wait till Aug 7th or so to hear anything more because every is going away for the long weekend. The shift supervisor who was on duty at the time all this happened isn’t returning calls or requests for a report.

I sure wish I could turn this off in my head like that, but I guess since I don’t lose children casually, I’m not handling it as well as Westjet can.

I'm tired of being a nice guy in this situation & giving them a chance to step up & show that they do care about the safety of children signed over to their care. I’ve given they every possible chance & just keep hitting stalls & delays so I’m going to try this. Maybe some public pressure will show them that their customers regard this as a serious matter too.

Want a little piece of irony?

Snipped from their site: http://c3dsp.westjet.com/guest/about...onTemplate.jsp
"WestJet is the official airline of the Missing Children Society of Canada (MCSC), a registered non-profit organization dedicated to the search for abducted and runaway children. "
Well stop losing them & that's 1/2 the battle right there!

I would like people to read this & think about what if this had been their child/grandchild/niece/nephew/neighbor/ect. Is this the type of company you want to trust while flying at 500+mph & 30,000 feet?

If you share my concern about the handling of this, please send an email to any or all of the people listed below.

Robert Cummings Executive Vice-President, Guest Experience [email protected]

Sean Durphy, Executive VP/CEO: [email protected]
Len Winzinowich, VP of Flight Operations: [email protected]
Wayne Schneider, VP Operations: [email protected]

Or you can call & make a comment to their Guest Relations Dept 1-800-538-5696

They don't seem to be too concerned that it was only through blind luck that my son isn't now a statistic on the Missing Children Society of Canada website.

Or if you have any more info, tips or words of support, I can be reached at [email protected]

[Redlyne_mr2]

Mistakes happen man.. what do they want out of West jet, they got an apology, they were given a credit. What more can be done, if anything it will give their child some skills in independence because youd be surprised how many useless first time flyers I encouter at the airport every week... and they arent children.

[KappaSigma]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Mistakes happen man.. what do they want out of West jet, they got an apology, they were given a credit. What more can be done, if anything it will give their child some skills in independence because youd be surprised how many useless first time flyers I encouter at the airport every week... and they arent children.

No offense but that is a horrble viewpoint. Mistakes happen. Westjet has signed custody over this child. It was there responsibility. I take it you do not have children? Having a child missing is a terrible thing, especially when it is someones repsonsibility.

In your view, if something happened to the child, it would be fine..because mistakes happen? Terrible practice.

[Cowtown_Raider]

Mistakes happen? Sure they do, but a company with Westjet's reputation needs to do a little more than "oh sorry for losing your kid, here's your $50 back". You obviously don't have children.

[Lex350]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Mistakes happen man.. what do they want out of West jet, they got an apology, they were given a credit. What more can be done, if anything it will give their child some skills in independence because youd be surprised how many useless first time flyers I encouter at the airport every week... and they arent children.

the guy said it himslef that he has had no problem with his own family a 1/2 dozens times. Shit sometimes happens...do you want blood? WTF?

[Amysicle]

They probably want an apology and proceedures put in place so this doesn't happen again and for the people who screwed up to get disciplined for it.

The fact that people give WestJet an extra $50 to ensure that their child arrives safely to the destination in the arms of who they're supposed to meet is the thing here. The WestJet customer service rep responsible for ensuring that the child gets picked up by the grandmother/family member, etc. completely dropped the ball here. They failed to find the child when they realized the kid went missing and failed again to notify anyone about the incident. What if the family member meeting the child had gotten into an accident on the way to the airport? I would want someone I paid $50 to call me if the person who was supposed to pick them up didn't arrive within 20 minutes.

As for first time flyers (that aren't children) that you mentioned vs. a child:

1) The first time flyer should be able to read well and follow instructions. Children can have limited reading abilities and might not know where they're going or where they should go.
2) The first time flyer has access to a lot more money than a child, so therefore worse case scenerio, they can hail a cab, pay for a hotel, book a flight back and pay for it, etc.

I wouldn't appreciate my child (if I had one) being forced to gain some independence skills because of someone else's screw up. What if this had been a 5 year old? What would they have done if the kid went missing altogether and wasn't found? How long would it take someone to respond if the grandmother came up and said, "Where's my grandson?"

[KappaSigma]

Originally posted by rotten42





the guy said it himslef that he has had no problem with his own family a 1/2 dozens times. Shit sometimes happens...do you want blood? WTF?

From my understanding of the situation, little details were given as to what went wrong. It is one thign to apologize, but as a parent, would you not like to know WHY or HOW this occurred. To me, it sounds like WestJet is trying to sweep this incident under the rug.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by KappaSigma


From my understanding of the situation, little details were given as to what went wrong. It is one thign to apologize, but as a parent, would you not like to know WHY or HOW this occurred. To me, it sounds like WestJet is trying to sweep this incident under the rug.

pretty obvious what went one, someone wasnt paying attention, the child was let off the place unattended. Some was too lazy/busy to follow up as to where the child was. Its a shitty situation, id be pissed but you could beat the situation to death all day long and nothing would be resolved.

[Weapon_R]

Since there was a charge for this service, Westjet was responsible for making sure that the kid got off safely. If it were my kid, however, he'd know to wait til a CSR got there and not get up by himself. We don't know if the UM tag was visible at the time of arrival.

[Team_Mclaren]

I would never let my kid fly UM. <--period

[KappaSigma]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2

pretty obvious what went one, someone wasnt paying attention, the child was let off the place unattended. Some was too lazy/busy to follow up as to where the child was. Its a shitty situation, id be pissed but you could beat the situation to death all day long and nothing would be resolved.

With an attitude like that towards missing kids..I hope you dont have kids.

[Cowtown_Raider]

Originally posted by rotten42





the guy said it himslef that he has had no problem with his own family a 1/2 dozens times. Shit sometimes happens...do you want blood? WTF?

Did you even read the damn thing? Yeah I've had no problems, but this mistake by WJ could've had a very bad outcome.

Airlines lose your reservation or your luggage, but NOT YOUR CHILDREN!

[Lex350]

I'm just saying that with the number of kids they handle you are bound to get a screw up once in a while no matter how good their procedures are. We are dealing with people....people are not perfect.


I don't see them as "sweeping this under the rug" The supervisor admitted fault and sent the report up the chain. They also credited the cusomter. The only thing that didn't happen was the public linching.



I understand emotions are much higher because a young child was involved but I think the response they got was acceptable.

[MikeHL]

. He was flying as an "unaccompanied minor" (called a "UM"), something he's done 8 times before with no problems or issues.

Since he has done it 8 times before shouldn't he know the drill ? I mean if your 7 and have done this a few times before shouldn't you know the procedure already?

but since we live in Canada the other option is Air Canada. I don't even trust them will my luggage, let alone a kid.

[Lex350]

Originally posted by MikeHL


Since he has done it 8 times before shouldn't he know the drill ? I mean if your 7 and have done this a few times before shouldn't you know the procedure already?

but since we live in Canada the other option is Air Canada. I don't even trust them will my luggage, let alone a kid.

maybe not. You are talking kids here. Sometimes they seem so indipendent....sometimes they seem totally helpless.


You could say the same thing about crossing the street. Sometimes they look...sometimes they don't even though they know what to do.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by KappaSigma


With an attitude like that towards missing kids..I hope you dont have kids.

Its all in the parenting.. teach your kids independance, common sense, street smarts otherwise they get into the real world on their own and their useless.

[abyss]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
I would never let my kid fly UM. &lt;--period

Until they're old enough to travel safely on their own without assistance, they shouldn't be traveling on their own at all.

[KappaSigma]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2

Its all in the parenting.. teach your kids independance, common sense, street smarts otherwise they get into the real world on their own and their useless.

OMG. The kid is 7! Yes, lets throw our children to thw wolves at the age of 7. make them learn the streets at 7. Give me a break.

Your penis should be snapped off before your can parent any children.

[nos_efx]

Moral of the story.

If you want something done right "DO IT YOURSELF"

I would never trust someone else with my child, especially that young.

There's his full explanation.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by KappaSigma


OMG. The kid is 7! Yes, lets throw our children to thw wolves at the age of 7. make them learn the streets at 7. Give me a break.

Your penis should be snapped off before your can parent any children.

But your wife enjoys it so much... joookiiinggg