- Air Canada has a policy that allows employees to classify flight cancellations caused by staff shortages as a “safety” issue.
- The policy excludes travelers from being able to access compensation under federal regulations.
- The Canadian Transportation Agency said treating staffing shortages as a safety issue violates federal rules.
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Air Canada is refusing to compensate passengers for cancellations thanks to a policy it introduced during COVID-19 that allows the airline to consider staff shortages a safety issue, The Canadian Press reported.
Amid a summer of travel chaos plagued by flight delays and lost luggage, the practice is another complication for weary travelers, according to The Canadian Press, which reported that passenger Ryan Farrell’s flight from Yellowknife to Calgary was canceled due to what the airline called “crew”. limitations”.
Farrell made a request for compensation, but the request was denied due to staff shortages, the outlet reported.
A customer relations email to Farrell obtained by The Canadian Press said: “Given that your Air Canada flight was delayed/cancelled due to crew limitations resulting from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in our operations, the compensation you are requesting does not apply because the delay/cancellation was caused by a safety-related issue.”
Air Canada’s response to Farrell is part of a company-wide policy that instructs employees to classify flight cancellations caused by staff shortages as a “safety” issue. Doing so precludes travelers from being able to access compensation under federal regulations, according to company policy.
In Canada, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations require airlines to pay $1,000 in compensation for cancellations or major delays that are within the carrier’s control when notification is received 14 days or less before departure. Airlines do not have to provide any payment if the change was necessary for security reasons.
In an email to The Canadian Press, the Canadian Transportation Agency said treating staffing shortages as a safety issue violates federal rules.
“If the crew shortage is due to the carrier’s actions or inactions, the disruption will be considered to be within the carrier’s control for the purposes of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations. Therefore, a disruption caused by the crew shortage should not be considered ‘mandatory.’ for safety purposes, when it is the carrier that caused the safety problem as a result of its own actions,” the agency said in an email to the news network .
Gabor Lukacs, president of the air passenger rights group, told the news organization that Canada’s largest airline is illegally exploiting federal regulation to avoid paying compensation and called on the regulator of transport a stronger application.
In the US, there are no federal laws that require airlines to provide money or other compensation to passengers when their flights are delayed, according to the US Department of Transportation.
The Canadian press reported that Air Canada disagreed, stating, “Air Canada follows all public health guidelines as part of its safety culture, and during the Omicron wave last winter that affect crew availability, we revised our policy to better assist customers on their travels with enhanced levels of customer service for flight cancellations related to crew struggling with COVID.”
Air Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.