Airlines including Air Canada and Porter seek to overturn compensation rules for flight delays
Supreme Court Holds Appeal Hearing on Airline Industry’s Objections to Passenger Protection Rules
Canada's highest court is set to review the Air Passenger Protection Regulations introduced in 2019. These regulations outline how airlines should treat passengers who experience flight disruptions or lost luggage. The court will hear arguments from both the government and the industry for and against these regulations. A compensation of 1000 Canadian dollars is in place to compensate passengers whose flights get delayed or cancelled within a specific time for any reason. There are also standards under which delayed customers are entitled to food and lodging and compensation for lost or damaged luggage.
The International Air Transport Association led the airline industry's appeal against new regulations before the Federal Court of Appeal in 2022. However, the industry lost the appeal, except for some luggage provisions. The Supreme Court of Canada scheduled a hearing on April 1st in Ottawa to hear the industry's appeal of that decision. The airlines argue that Canada has no right to impose rules on foreign carriers and that the compensation amounts exceed passengers' actual losses. On the other hand, the government states that the rules are meant to ensure fair and consistent treatment of passengers, especially as the travel surge after pandemic restrictions were lifted, revealing the industry's ill-preparedness.
The regulations apply to all airlines that fly into, out of, or within Canada. They state that passengers whose flights are cancelled can receive a refund or a seat on the next available departure or with another airline. Furthermore, if the reason for a flight delay is within the airline's control, the airline must compensate passengers for the inconvenience caused. The amount of compensation varies according to the length of the delay and the airline's size, but it can be as high as $1,000 for delays of nine or more hours.
Airlines will no longer be able to automatically absolve themselves from giving compensation, free food and other assistance to passengers in case of flight cancellation or delay.
Both airlines and passengers agree that the complaint resolution system needs to be simpler, fairer, and more efficient. On Thursday, the CTA revealed that it has approximately 70,000 passenger complaints in its backlog.