A Vernon woman has been waiting more than two months for a refund from a commuter airline that went out of business at the beginning of the year.
Lynn Laustrup, who ironically lives just walking distance from the Vernon Airport, says going to the media is her "last hope."
She's been trying to get a refund from Cascadia Airways since early December.
Laustrup says she booked a return flight on Oct. 5 from Vernon to Pitt Meadows to visit her niece at Christmas. She was to leave Dec. 23 and return Dec. 27.
Despite successfully booking the flights online and receiving email confirmation, she was informed on Dec. 5 that there would be no flights on the 27th – but she could return on the 30th.
When Laustrup informed the airline that the date didn't work for her and she would like a refund, she received an email from a customer service supervisor on Dec. 8, stating "all refunds are being processed next week."
It's now late February, and Laustrup says she can't get emails or phone calls returned.
On Dec. 27, she received another notice stating the service had been cancelled.
The airline ceased operations Jan. 1 and in a statement issued Jan. 11 cited a "difficult economic year" had made its operations "unsustainable."
The statement continued: "Over the next few weeks, we will be reaching out to our customers and any entitled refunds will be issued as soon as possible."
Laustrup says she's "beyond frustrated" and only learned of the airline halting operations when she went to the airport and was told so by the manager.
"Their Facebook page isn't active, and the telephone numbers have a message 'these phones are not set up to take calls.' Their website only has a form to fill out, and to date I have not received a reply," she says.
Meanwhile, Laustrup is out $550.52, and the airline "just doesn't call back ... absolutely nothing."
She was told between Christmas and New Year's the refund had been sent to the airline's accounts payable department, and she hasn't heard anything since.
Complaints about cancelled flights and refunds first began to emerge early in the year, after the airline quietly folded up operations.
The airline had served Vernon and Penticton as well as Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Penticton, Vernon, Campbell River, Tofino, and Haida Gwaii.
The airline came into the Okanagan in 2021, first flying into Penticton and adding Vernon in 2022.
