WestJet apologizes to Regina couple after security scare at Vegas airport

WestJet has apologized for after a Regina couple was detained by border security on trip to Las Vegas.

Lorna Evans, along with her husband and several other passengers, walked off a direct WestJet flight from Regina to Las Vegas in December, but when they got off the plane they were greeted with locked doors and there were no staff members around to help. She said the group of passengers went through the wrong door when they were attempting to reach customs.

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“Our records indicate that upon arrival in Las Vegas, some guests exited through the wrong door, sounding the alarm,” a statement from WestJet noted. “Guests were redirected to proceed through the customs area.”

But Evans said that was not the case. She said they didn’t hear an alarm, and they went through the door hoping to find the nearest border security agent to direct them through customs.

Instead, she said a border security agent told them they had illegally crossed in the United States.

“It was a terrifying experience that should have never happened,” Evans said. “WestJet staff should have stayed and completed their job that evening.”

Lorna Evans and her husband were held up for several hours while co-operating with border security agents in Las Vegas. (Lorna Evans/submitted)

Evans said she’s not satisfied with the airline’s apology for the inconvenience she and her fellow passengers experienced. She said the situation could have been avoided or corrected if WestJet staff had simply guided passengers through the correct doors to customs.

“There was absolutely nobody there,” she said. “There was nobody from WestJet. We never saw a WestJet person again that evening.”

Evans said the group of passengers spent more than two hours being lined up by border security agents while the situation was sorted out. She said the uncertainty was upsetting, as the group waited to see if they would be arrested by border security.

“Not knowing where we were going, not being told anything if we were getting our luggage back and being released or not was scary, (and) is still scary to even think about,” she said.

The group of passengers was eventually led back to customs where they were granted entry to the United States. Evans and her husband flew home on Saturday.