Transport Minister Anita Anand has announced her intention to call Canadian airline CEOs to a meeting this month in response to Air Canada’s decision to charge a fee for carry-on bags in the new year.
Air Canada passengers purchasing basic fare tickets for North American and tropical destinations will be charged a carry-on fee of $35 for the first bag and $50 for the second as of Jan. 3. The airline announced the change in a Dec. 4 press release that also said passengers presenting ineligible carry-on items at the boarding gate will be required to check these bags for a fee of $65 per item.
It was that announcement that spurred Anand into calling the meeting, the minister said during a Dec. 4 interview with CTV Power Play that was posted to her social media accounts.
“Let’s just say I’m not very happy today with what I’ve heard from Air Canada,” Anand said. “I think they need to take a look at the persons that they are targeting with these excess fees. It is not acceptable.”
Anand said the measure implemented by Air Canada will impact the passengers who can least afford to pay more.
Under the new measures, passengers would be able to board with a purse or computer bag, but larger items, such as roller-board or duffel bags, or large backpacks, will have to be checked pre-security. The only large items exempt from the new policy will be mobility aids, medical devices, and child strollers, the airline said.
Revised basic fare passengers will also be charged for seat selection change at check-in as of Jan. 21.
Anand said she realizes the newly announced fees are a “business decision” made by the airline but said the timing was “disappointing.”
“This is not acceptable at a time when Canadians’ pocketbooks are hurting and when they’ve been saving for their travels,” she said.
Air Canada described the fees as a way to put the company on an equal playing field with other airlines.
“These changes align the airline’s fare structure with similar fare offerings by other Canadian carriers and better distinguish its fare brands,” the company said in its release.
WestJet Airlines introduced a new “no-frills fare” in June dubbed UltraBasic, to replace its basic fare on all domestic and transborder routes. UltraBasic tickets do away with a free carry-on bag unless the customer is on a transatlantic or transpacific flight and charges a fee for seat selection.
Anand said the government has a special relationship with Air Canada because it loaned the airline money during the pandemic in return for a stake in the company.
How much say Ottawa has in the airline’s business decisions is currently under examination, Anand said, adding that she will be able to comment more on that “in the days ahead.”
She acknowledged that Ottawa’s relationship is different with other airlines, but said she expects to see the CEOs from each airline at the mid-December meeting she called.
“Each airline is different. Each airline has rolled out its particular pricing packages at different stages, but I will deal with all of them in one room at one time,” she said, adding that her primary focus will be on “unacceptable” excess fees.
Passenger Rights
Ottawa promised last year to revamp the air passenger bill of rights in response to considerable travel delays and cancellations experienced by passengers during the summer months and the 2022 winter holiday season.The Liberals also pledged last spring to introduce legislation to make additional amendments to the air passenger rights regime, initially enacted in 2019 and revised at the end of 2022. Then-Transport Minister Omar Alghabr said it was a bid to strengthen air passenger rights and simplify the complaint resolution process.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) proposed an updated set of regulations in July of 2023, yet a final draft has yet to materialize. The CTA is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal of the federal government.
Anand said in the Dec. 4 interview that she is “pushing for an accelerated timeline.”
“I am very much of the view that passengers deserve particular rights as the main consumers on these airlines, and I’m very concerned with ensuring that we have more and more competition in the airline industry,” Anand said.
