Canada proposes tighter consumer rules for airline passengers

MONTREAL –

Airlines in Canada would need to set up internal plans to deal with travel claims from disgruntled passengers and face greater pressure to compensate those impacted by flight disruptions under proposals included in the country’s budget legislation, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said on Monday.

Passenger complaints over lengthy delays or flight cancellations have soared against airlines in Canada and other countries as commercial traffic rebounds after pandemic lows.

The proposed tightening of rules would also give the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) greater powers to impose monetary penalties and give it the authority to enter into compliance agreements with air carriers, according to a statement from the transport ministry.

The legislation would broaden the agency’s authority to set fees to recover its costs for resolving complaints, and would replace the current process to allow for more timely decisions.

The CTA, a quasi-judicial tribunal responsible for enforcing existing passenger refund requirements, said it now has a backlog of over 44,000 complaints.

“It is clear that a stronger and simpler system is needed to increase air carriers’ accountability and transparency,” Alghabra said.

“The proposed amendments would significantly enhance our air passenger rights regime to ensure travelers get the services and treatment they pay for and deserve,” he said.

The rules would impose a greater burden on carriers to compensate a passenger who complains unless the airline proves the contrary. Airlines would also need to establish an internal process for dealing with air travel claims.

(Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)