A Canadian woman’s long-awaited Jamaica getaway took a frightening turn when a canceled WestJet flight left her stranded and ultimately forced her to give birth nine weeks ahead of schedule.
Julia Henry, who was 31 weeks pregnant, had been set to travel home with her husband, Jordan, from Kingston, Jamaica, to Winnipeg, Canada, on August 3. Instead, the couple learned their return flight had been abruptly canceled.
They were initially told they would be rebooked soon. But after waiting without an update from the airline, the couple contacted a WestJet agent and were informed that the earliest available departure from the Caribbean island would be August 7 — five days after their original flight.
‘And we wouldn’t get back to Winnipeg until almost Sunday [August 9], and then another flight was we wouldn’t get home until the following Tuesday,’ Julia told CTV News.
The couple pushed for an earlier option, but said they were told no alternative could be arranged.
Julia asked whether WestJet could move them onto an Air Canada flight, but the airline said it could not make the change because only business class seats remained. WestJet also said it was unable to rebook the couple on a U.S. carrier for their journey back to Canada.
‘Unfortunately, there are no flights scheduled on the requested routing with the specified airline based on the inventory available in my system,’ the agent told them.
Left with few options, Julia and Jordan spent more than $4,500 on new flights, routing themselves through Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on August 6 before taking a connecting flight to Winnipeg on August 8.
Julia, who was 31 weeks pregnant, and her husband Jordan were supposed to fly back to Canada from Jamaica on August 3, only for their WestJet flight to be canceled
The couple successfully made it to Florida, where Julia began feeling unwell and went to the hospital, where she was admitted for going into premature labor, she told the outlet.
One day before their flight back to Canada, Julia gave birth to their daughter Keziah.
‘It just escalated from one thing to the next and just so, so quickly. And it was like, nope, this is go time…our baby is coming now, and she’s not going to wait,’ Julia told CTV News.
Now, the family’s journey home has taken another detour, as they are expected to remain in Fort Lauderdale for several more weeks, while their daughter is in the NICU.
The family is now facing growing financial problems, as the ‘bills are piling up,’ Julia’s mother, Krista Fidler, told CTV News.
‘There’s accommodation, there’s transportation, there’s the rental car, there’s food. There’s the stress of just being away from home,’ she said.
It is unclear if the couple purchased travel insurance, which could help offset some of the cost. However, most plans do not cover the cost of overseas births.
Fidler believes the stress from the WestJet fiasco caused her daughter to go into early labor.
WestJet wanted to rebook them on a flight five days later and were unable to get them an early flight, even on a different airline. They ended up spending $4,500 of their own money to fly from Jamacia to Fort Lauderdale and then to Winnipeg, but they never made it home
Julia ended up going into premature labor and giving birth to their daughter Keziah in Florida, where the couple are expected to remain for several weeks while their daughter is in the NICU
‘I believe in my heart of hearts that Julia would still be pregnant if she was home, and they would have got their flight home on Monday,’ she said.
Julia has admitted the ordeal has caused her ‘a lot of stress.’
‘As of right now, WestJet has really disappointed us in how they’ve handled the situation,’ she told CTV News.
WestJet told Our News Outlet: ‘We learned of this situation through the media and are looking into the booking. WestJet will reach out to the guest directly.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Henrys for comment.
