It was supposed to be the trip of their dreams. Thunder Bay couple Laura and Joseph Zaina were planning to treat their children and grandchildren — nine in all — to Florida’s theme parks and all the fun the Sunshine State has to offer.
But the dream became a nightmare just before take off, when the family’s Air Canada flight from Thunder Bay to Orlando was cancelled. The crew had timed out — meaning they couldn’t work more hours until they’d had a break, Laura said a flight attendant told them.
An Air Canada employee told the Zainas their only option was to fly to Toronto then wait three days for a flight. But that would mean losing thousands of dollars in pre-booked theme park tickets.
“Our hand was forced to book alternate [airline] tickets,” said Joseph. “Three nights in Toronto for 11 people for hotel and food. I don’t know what that would have cost.” Instead, the Zainas rented cars, drove to the United States and flew from there, which added an additional $10,000 to their trip.
It is the responsibility of airlines to ensure crew are available to work flights, the Canadian Transportation Agency, a quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator, has ruled. So the Zainas sought monetary compensation from Air Canada for the flight disruption.
But when they did, they were told the flight had actually been cancelled due to a maintenance safety issue, the couple says. They were reimbursed for their flights to Florida and five of the 11 family members received $300 flight vouchers, but were told they were not eligible for compensation, Joseph said.
“[We] heard that [crew had] timed out. But Air Canada says, ‘No, they didn’t say that.’ Well, they said it,” Laura says.
The couple plans to file a complaint with the Canada Transportation Agency over the incident. When they do, their claim will join a backlog of some 61,000 air travel complaints, waiting to be resolved.
This backlog has been ballooning, exacerbated in part by the mass travel disruptions brought on by the pandemic. In 2018-19, the agency received 7,700 complaints. In 2022-23, 42,100. Today, the wait time for a case is about 18 months.
‘Where the problems start’
In part to address this backlog, in June, the government passed Bill C-47, the Budget Implementation Act, which introduced changes to Canada’s air passenger charter of rights.
The amendments — some of which have yet to come into force — aim to strengthen Canada’s passenger rights regime, which was first introduced in December 2019.
In its study of potential amendments to improve passenger rights, the government noted that “carriers [were] increasingly classifying flight disruptions as being within their control but required for safety purposes, or outside of their control, to avoid providing compensation,” according to a government overview.
In 2022, almost half of all flight disruptions — a whopping 87,500 — were deemed within the airlines’ control.
The old rules placed the onus on passengers like the Zainas to prove a flight was cancelled for reasons other than safety. They did not make clear what types of flight disruptions qualified for compensation. And they did not mandate a timeline for cases to be reviewed.
The amendments, once in effect, could flip these rules on their head.
They will “impose a greater burden of proof” on airlines in case of flight disruptions, requiring them to compensate passengers except in limited circumstances. And they may require air carriers to have an internal process to deal with claims expeditiously.
The changes would bring the Canadian rules more in line with the European Union model, which holds airlines responsible for compensation for flight changes in all but “exceptional circumstances.”
After Bill C-47 came into effect, the Canadian Transportation Agency released proposals on updates to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations to better align them with the new law. Public consultations were held on these proposals in August. New regulations based on the consultations and proposals are expected in the coming year.
Advocates say that for the changes to be effective, the framework and penalties will have to be clearer and better enforced.
“There are no significant severe financial consequences for airlines that break the law — and that’s where the problems start,” says Gábor Lukács, an advocate with Air Passenger Rights, a passenger advocacy organization.
Without enforcement, airlines have little incentive to follow the regulations, he says.
In 2022-23, transportation companies were fined for violating regulations in only 643 cases, with fines totalling $725,000. The maximum fine for violating a regulation was $25,000.
Under the new law, the fine for airlines that violate the regulations will jump to $250,000.
Canadian airline companies such as WestJet claim the new regulations will encourage airlines to overlook safety standards to avoid cancelling flights and paying compensation. The National Airlines Council of Canada, an airline trade association, says increased compensation will financially burden airlines and encourage them to abandon less profitable routes.
A Canadian Transportation Agency spokesperson told Canadian Affairs that when the agency finds an airline has failed to meet its obligations, it has “the power to compensate the passenger for any expenses they incurred as a result of the carrier’s failure to apply its tariff.”
For the Zainas, this could mean that, when their claim does get heard, they’ll be compensated for the thousands of dollars they’re out of pocket for their foiled trip.
But the Zainas don’t have complete faith in their case getting settled this way. They’re also taking the matter to small claims court, in the hopes of a quicker resolution.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify that the government’s comments were made in the context of a study of the old rules, and to reflect that some of the amendments have not yet come into force.
