The Supreme Court’s decision to force airlines to pay compensation for delays, cancellations and baggage problems does not represent a real victory for travelers, says a comparator.
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“Unfortunately the news is not [à] 100% positive, because there is still a defect. Unlike European rules, carriers can declare that flight disruptions were for safety reasons and are not obliged to pay compensation. Whereas in Europe, it doesn’t exist. So, there is already this big problem,” says the co-founder of Flytrippers, Andrew D’Amours, on the show On your business.
Another problem raised by Mr. D’Amours is that there are still 79,000 people waiting for financial compensation from different airlines. Because of the waiting time for compensation, some travelers decide to drop their request.
“The government doesn’t really have a plan so that it won’t take 3 years. By not enforcing the rules, carriers know they can keep people in limbo. […] People will just let the compensation happen, because it’s too far,” he explains.
The co-founder of Flytrippers believes that the Government of Canada has adapted compensation regulations in favor of carriers and not travelers.
“There are people who go to small claims to assert their rights, because it’s faster than the Canadian Transportation Agency,” laments Andrew D’Amours.
See the full interview with Andrew D’Amours in the video above.
