Ottawa’s Solutions to Flight Delays ‘Fall Short,’ Airline Group Says

Air Canada planes are parked at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, on April 28, 2021. Carlos Osorio/Reuters

The National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC) is criticizing Ottawa’s proposed new rules on responses to flight disruptions, saying they “fall short” of addressing Canadians’ concerns.

NACC President and CEO Jeff Morrison said the solutions recently proposed by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) are costly and do not take the “complex” operations of airlines into consideration.

“If adopted, they would impact affordability and connectivity for Canadians,” he said in a Dec. 23 press release.

Morrison said the CTA heard from a variety of organizations in 2023, which shared their concerns about the negative impact the proposals would have on regional connectivity, the cost of air travel, and the ability of airlines to meet regulatory requirements.

The CTA released its new proposed amendments to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations on Dec. 21, with Transport Minister Anita Anand saying they would “eliminate grey zones and ambiguity about when passengers are owed compensation.”

If they are adopted, these amendments would require air carriers to give meals to passengers whose flights are delayed by at least two hours. Airlines must also rebook a passenger who has missed or is likely to miss a connecting flight because of an earlier flight disruption, according to the new rules.

Airlines would need to provide refunds within 15 days, as opposed to the current 30-day rule, if a passenger is bumped from a flight, delayed by at least three hours, or if they prefer to be reimbursed rather than rebook a cancelled flight. The passenger would also be given refunds if they cancel due to Canadian government travel advisories.

Airlines that fail to meet these regulations could face a maximum fine of $250,000, which is far higher than the existing $25,000 penalty. The CTA said the proposed amendments would cost carriers approximately 99 cents per passenger flight each year, or approximately $512 million over a 10-year period once they come into effect.

Morrison said airlines had already demonstrated progress in improving air travel performance and making the services more predictable and reliable. He pointed out that since the introduction of similar passenger rights legislation in the European Union a decade ago, there has been no improvement in performance, but costs have risen markedly.

“Canada’s airlines strongly believe the federal government needs to focus its efforts on improving the competitiveness of the overall air travel system and its affordability, and will not add costs to the system,” he said, adding that Ottawa should make investments in airport infrastructure, reform the CTA claims adjudication process to reduce backlogs, and review all federal fees and charges.