MONTREAL – Passengers and advocates say Air Canada is giving them information on refunds, compensation and reasons mentioned for flight delays and cancellations, including a case of outstanding bad weather almost two weeks in advance.
Despite thousands of abandoned flights and late arrivals, customers struggle to successfully file complaints and navigate the nuances of complex regulations amid the overwhelming increase in summer travel.
The country’s largest transport company informed some passengers that its flight to Lisbon would be delayed due to “bad weather” 12 days before it was scheduled to leave Montreal on 17 July.
Another traveler recently received a $ 60 “eCoupon” due to a baggage delay for days instead of a direct refund of the baggage fare to which he is entitled under both federal and contract rules. Air Canada Passenger Transportation.
“It would be great if I could get that money back instead of a coupon. Especially because I’m still without my bag and I’m taking care of the temporary expenses,” said Air Canada Rouge passenger Leanna Durdle.
On Tuesday, the airline canceled a flight from Nashville to Toronto due to a “technical problem”. But data on the Flightradar24 tracking service show that the same plane that was scheduled to fly to Nashville for the trip instead of taking off for Boston an hour after the original departure time, despite the indicated mechanical problem.
Liam Walshe, a paralegal who advocates consumer protection, called the reasons “questionable” and “suspicious.” Technical or mechanical breakdowns are not considered as a control of the carrier and therefore exempt it from having to compensate customers, he noted.
“I was quite surprised by what I was seeing,” he said.
“How would they say it’s for maintenance and then, an hour later, the plane flies to Boston? Why wouldn’t they delay the flight from Nashville a little bit?”
Walshe said that, on the whole, the myriad of cases of “technical” or “maintenance” problems along with travel vouchers rather than reimbursement create an appearance that the airline is trying to avoid “paying”.
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“People have been filing complaints and they have been denied,” he said. “You’ll see all kinds of people saying there are inconsistent reasons.”
Air Canada said in an email that the weather explanation for the Lisbon flight was “an incorrect notification” that has since been revised.
“Air Canada fully appreciates the disappointment and inconvenience that schedule changes cause to customers and does its best to mitigate these unfortunate situations,” the airline said in a statement.
He notes that travelers can request a refund in the original form of payment at any time and says he will pay additional compensation when it is due under the passenger rights charter.
The airline has struggled to cope with the wave of passengers amid staff shortages in recent months, with positions ranging from pilots to luggage carriers as well as security and customs agents.
The result has been long waiting times at the airport, constant delays and mazes of late luggage, along with growing complaints and claims for compensation.
The airline has said its payroll is at 93% of 2019 levels, although it reduced more than 15% of summer departures. Announced last week, this move reduces its flight schedule well below 80 percent of pre-pandemic figures, in which it has been operating since late spring.
Meanwhile, the federal government says about 1,200 checkpoints have been hired since April, though not all are licensed to work on the scanners, and more than 700 student border guards have taken places at checkpoints.
However, the turbulence of travel continues, with Air Canada accumulating a higher proportion of flight delays (about two-thirds) than any other major airline in the world for four consecutive days from Saturday. Other airlines and airports are also suffering from excessive delays, from London’s Heathrow to China’s Guangzhou.
Gabor Lukacs, chairman of the Air Passenger Rights Advocacy Group, says the frustration of travelers underscores the complexity and shortcomings of Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) three years ago.
For example, travelers have no way of disproving an airline’s claim that there are mechanical problems behind a delay and that no cash is owed.
“These are not easily understandable and easy-to-enforce rights. It’s a scam,” Lukacs said, pointing to a small claims court decision in Nova Scotia since July 2021.
“When consumer protection is the intended result of a regulatory regime, it must be assumed that the regime will be in plain language, easy to understand and support a simple claims process,” the ruling says.
“The APPR, which sought to achieve the rights of improved passengers, does not achieve any of this. The language is complex and legalistic; detailed or specific knowledge is required to invoke the claims system; and the process for claiming compensation, a once invoked, it does not lend itself to a speedy resolution “.
According to the regulations, passengers are owed alternative travel arrangements or a refund, at the traveler’s choice, if they were informed more than two weeks in advance that their flight has been canceled. or was delayed three hours or more for reasons under the control of the carrier.
If the trip has been canceled within 14 days or less, passengers are owed $ 1,000 for a cancellation or delay of nine hours or more, and between $ 400 and $ 700 for delays of three to nine o’clock.
Regardless of the length of the notice, a passenger who chooses to decline a new reservation should receive $ 400 compensation in addition to a refund.
The airline must try to re-book passengers for a flight on its network that takes off within nine hours of the original departure time. If you can’t, you should offer to book them on another airline “as soon as possible,” for free, according to the passenger rights charter.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 7, 2022.
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Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press