A passenger tried to record an airline employee explaining why they were being bumped off their flight. The employee attacked the 73-year old man, tried to steal his phone, and left him with a swollen eye.
WestJet passenger Jason Huang was flying from Edmonton to Toronto. He and his family had checked in and printed boarding passes. But at the airport his boarding passes were replaced with ones for a later flight with no clear explanation.
It turns out the airline swapped aircraft, and had to involuntarily bump customers off the full flight, so they’d be traveling several hours later. He wasn’t being offered any compensation, so he started recording his interaction with the airline’s agents.
- A WestJet agent told him he couldn’t record and threatened to call the police if he didn’t stop. He refused, so the agent told him: “You’re not flying today.”
- The agent grabbed Huang’s phone out of his hand and tore up all four boarding passes.
- Huang’s 73-year-old father started recording. The agent tells the family they have “no right” to record and ordering them to “get this phone down!”
- The agent then reaches for the 73-year old’s phone – and hits him in the eye, leaving it red and swollen.
Jingan Huang’s swollen eye, via CBC
According to the airline,
WestJet takes situations like this very seriously, and the incident was promptly investigatedinternally and recently closed with appropriate internal follow-up.We sincerely apologize to the guests for this experience, guest care is an important value atWestJet.We appreciate their patience while we completed the investigation; a member of our GuestSupport team is getting in touch with the guests directly to follow up on this matter.
Canada has one-party consent for recording private communications, and this one was happening in public. You can legally record a conversation you are part of in person or by phone without telling the other party.
And the passengers wanted to record the airline’s explanation to support their claim under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, because WestJet denied him boarding for reasons within their control and not for a safety issue. He wanted compensation for the downgrade. And Canada’s government tells passengers that when you’re bumped, ask why, and get the explanation. He wanted a record of it.
- In the U.S., airlines get a free pass on involuntarily denied boarding compensation when it’s because of an aircraft swap.
- But Canada does not give airlines the same exception. Under passenger protection regulations, whether compensation is owed turns on why the aircraft was swapped.
Switching out a plane with fewer seats for commercial reasons is treated as being under the airline’s control, with compensation still due. If a smaller plane is all that’s available as a replacement aircraft when a plane goes mechanical, that’s still within the airline’s control but required for safety.
Earlier this month I wrote about the case of Air Transat passengers in Punta Cana, where an agent refused to check them in unless they deleted videos they had taken and signed a document admitting to having been abusive, a Canadian judge issued a scathing ruling about how crucial it is for customers to record interactions that show they’re being mistreated.
The judge called the airline’s conduct “especially egregious” and wrote,
Thank goodness [the passenger] took video, so that I can actually see how terrible the customer service that he received at the hands of the defendant corporation was.
The airline claimed their concern was safety, but the judge pointed out that if there was really a safety risk, telling passengers to delete their video as the condition to fly made no sense.
If there hadn’t been passenger video of David Dao’s being dragged off of a United flight and bloodied, airlines would never have changed their denied boarding practices nor would the Department of Transportation have changed its rules.
Ah, so Westjet wants to be more like United, it seems. #UA3411, Dr. Dao, never forget.
no “internal investigation” is going to close this case.
The family can and should file criminal charges against the agent and sue the airline for damages
Must be a Delta world crass partner to be this impressively premium in customer relationship management
Best photo I have from my travels is of the WestJet service desk at YYC where an agent has on over-the-ear headphones and pulled a “You must be respectful to us” sign over to block his line of sight to the passengers in line.
I wish the Huang family nothing but happiness with their new found wealth
This is what flying has come to.
Passengers can be just as abusive. It’s a totally different experience now. I find it insane for people to travel by air or any form of transportation during major holidays. Give it up people. We’re overpopulated and you’re no special than the next guy!
It’s Canada. what more to say?
Why does everyone think they have to, or even should, record any event. Such a narcissistic response to life. There should be more laws prohibiting it and I’m in favor of any workplace that designates themselves a “camera/video free space”.
Retired Gambler – Only a moron would agree with your post.
The airline staff involved in this fiasco should either be fired, suspended or disciplined in some way.
Wow, @David R. Miller with a non-bigoted retort (how rare!), but still a personal attack.
@Retired Gambler: If the Huangs had not made a recording of this incident, would you have believed them?
Personally I think that the person who did the assault and battery should do the time. But, as a defense, it was probably climate change (sarcasm). Google AI agrees that some people can become more irritable when the weather is rainier.
Wow, you are so predictable. As I read the article, I thought, how long until knucklehead refers to Dr Dao.. Yep first comment (as usual) Bah. idiot
1990 says:
December 2, 2025 at 6:16 am
Ah, so Westjet wants to be more like United, it seems. #UA3411, Dr. Dao, never forget.
@Pilot93434 — And nearly every time you comments, it’s just whining about me. Huh. So original. And yet, still, the Dr. Dao comparison here is apt.
While I can understand the frustration a GA might feel to see a phone pop up, I would just switch to the “I’m explaining things to a child mode.” They escalate; you act more like you’re dealing with a petulant child. Film me and I’ll give you nothing to use.
Everyone seems to forget that Dr. Dao was not innocent. The end result was extreme, but he ran back on the plane after deplaning and refused several attempts to remove him- a security breach
Lots of disturbing info about him came out later . The married doctor lost his license for writing illegal scripts for his boyfriends.
Should file assault charges against the agent. And a civil suit for pain and suffering damages.
The Greyhound busses of the sky…#HardPass
This is very much on brand for WestJet. They’re actually worse to deal with than Flair, and that’s saying something.
@TProphet — That’d be like saying Spirit is less bad than American. Haven’t tried ULCC Flair, but have seen their unique ‘green’ planes. What ever happened to bright-pink Swoop?
@Dana
This is exactly why courts don’t allow certain testimony at trial. The doctor’s personal life had nothing to do with the incident. The fact that United settled in a nanosecond and promise never to kick off a paid ticketed seated passenger again tells you all you need to know about United’s behavior.
@Larry David Bradley — Yes, relevancy and bias matter (or at least should matter) in a court of law; however, this is the court of public opinion, where rampant speculation, rabid partisanship, and logical fallacies are currency.
This is why train travel is regaining popularity. If we had the high speed trains in North America that they have in Europe and Asia we’d have a far different airline culture.
Um, why isn’t the agent being held criminally responsible? This is a simple case of assault and battery!
Looking forward to flying Huang Jet in the future