The Canadian Transportation Agency presented its proposed changes to the air passengers’ bill of rights on Tuesday, launching consultations on the overhaul amid skepticism from some observers.
The reforms come after the Liberal government passed legislation last month to toughen airline penalties, strengthen the complaints process and target flight disruption loopholes that have allowed airlines to avoid to compensate certain travellers.
Amendments to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations clarify the circumstances in which an airline would not have to compensate its customers, narrowing the scope so that most technical issues will no longer be a loophole for carriers.
The new rules would also allow customers to request a refund if the government increases the risk level of travel to certain countries or if a flight disruption prevents them from completing their trip “within a reasonable time – for example, if the rebooking offered is so late in relation to the passenger’s initial departure time that the trip no longer has its purpose”. The current threshold is 48 hours.
In addition, the changes require timely information about airline disruptions and limit to two the number of consecutive flights for which carriers can claim a “domino effect” caused by a problem elsewhere, such as bad weather, such as a reason for denying compensation.
The backlog of complaints to the regulator now exceeds 52,000 cases. This number is about triple from a year ago and cases take an average of two years to resolve.
The number of cases has steadily increased after last summer’s airport chaos and further turbulence over the winter break. While traffic has been much smoother since the start of the current travel season, airlines, including Air Canada, regularly see the proportion of flights arriving on time drop below 50% as ‘they continue to deal with post-pandemic issues.
One loophole replaced by another?
“We’re in a bit of a mess,” observed John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
He questioned the idea that the so-called security loophole for compensation was really closed.
This vagueness in the rules has plagued many passengers in recent years. It allowed airlines to deny customers compensation for flight cancellations or delays of more than three hours if they were “necessary for the sake of safety”, as stipulated in the Canada Transportation Act.
The proposed amendments remove this security provision. But Mr Lawford warned that the list of “exceptional circumstances” partially reversed this change.
“We are going to have a list of things that are considered exceptional circumstances – to then put almost everything that was in the previous regime on it. »
The list of exceptions that relieve airlines of this obligation includes “deficiencies that are discovered and impair safe operation” — potentially comparable to the mechanical problems frequently cited by carriers.
“What is a discovered failure? Are we talking about apparent hidden defects and everything related to product liability law? Mr. Lawford asked. Enforcement on that front would also be difficult, he said.
“It’s not a recognized exception in Europe,” he added, referring to what is sometimes called the gold standard of passenger protection regimes.
However, the list excludes “technical problems inherent in the normal operation of an airline”.
Airline Reviews
The National Airlines Council of Canada (NALAC), an industry group representing four of the nation’s largest carriers, has denounced the potential removal of safety issues as an exception to compensation requirements.
“No airline should be penalized for meeting the highest safety standards, whether due to weather, mechanical issues or other safety constraints,” said Board Chairman Jeff Morrison, in a statement released in April.
According to the CNLAC, the way to a better travel experience goes through the modernization of airports and greater accountability of all aviation stakeholders.
Mr Morrison also stressed that the airlines should not bear sole responsibility for all the organizations in the global system, over which they have no control.
The list of exceptional circumstances includes “problems related to the operation of the airport for which the airline is not responsible”. It remains to be clarified what those problems are – for example, whether they would include a shortage of air traffic controllers which leads to hundreds of disruptions, an issue which has arisen in recent weeks.
The transport agency on Tuesday launched a 30-day period of public consultation on the proposed reforms.
A second round of consultations by the Canadian Transportation Agency will follow a set of draft regulations, which are expected to be released after initial public consultations close on August 10.
The new rules are expected to come into force by the end of the year.