Passenger Charter | Carriers to pay millions in fees to handle complaints

A tool eagerly awaited by traveller advocates is finally taking shape. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) wants to charge an airline nearly $800 when it has to deal with the file of a customer who feels aggrieved. This could cost carriers $18 million annually.

“This is excellent news,” said Jacob Charbonneau, founder and CEO of Vol en tard, in a telephone interview with The Press. It was a big gap in the framework. [réglementaire] in force. »

The federal agency responsible for protecting travellers is proposing a way to encourage air carriers to settle with their disgruntled customers? To charge them a $790 processing fee, which is supposed to cover 60% of the bill – salaries for agents, legal services and other costs – related to handling a complaint under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).

The initiative was unveiled on the OTC website on Wednesday. However, it is still too early to know when the measure will come into force. Consultations are scheduled until October 21.

The RPPA – also known as the Passenger Charter – provides, among other things, compensation for delays or refunds in the event of flight cancellations, which has caused an explosion in complaints from travellers. There are currently more than 74,000 complaints pending processing at the CTA, which is seeking to reverse this trend.

“The Office estimates that it will have the capacity to close, with a decision rendered, 22,615 admissible complaints per year,” he estimates, in reference to the suggested processing costs.

The proposed fee could cost the airline industry $17.6 million, depending on the CTA’s calculation method. It would apply to complaints filed before September 30, 2023. Cases already rejected by the federal agency would not be eligible.

“Right now, bad practices are encouraged by carriers,” says Mr. Charbonneau. “They systematically refuse all claims. Travelers must therefore resort to a process that takes years and many become discouraged.”

He believes the fees proposed by the OTC will encourage airlines to settle disputes with their customers, helping to ease the bottleneck within the federal agency.

Expected outcry

Air Canada disagrees. In a statement, its spokesman, Christophe Hennebelle, called the Agency’s suggestion “concerning” because it “seeks to see the airline pay high fees even if it turns out it was right” to refuse compensation.

“This means that an airline could be assessed administrative fees for a complaint that are higher than its average one-way revenue, and higher than the average amount of compensation under the RPPA, even if the CTA finds that it has complied with the settlement, as is often the case.”

Transat AT and Porter declined to comment immediately on the Agency’s idea. Both companies, however, said they intend to participate in the consultations. At the time of writing, WestJet had not responded to questions from The Press.

In half of the cases, disgruntled travellers who turned to the CTA were successful, according to a study conducted by the CBC last August. The public broadcaster looked at complaints handled by the agency between September 30, 2023 and June 30, 2023.

The result: The federal agency ordered carriers to make refunds in 50% of the 9,740 cases it handled. In nearly 73% of the cases in which the plaintiffs were awarded compensation for flight delays.

In other cases, these were reimbursements for flights or additional expenses.