New rules proposed for compensation for air travelers

The federal government is proposing new rules regarding airlines' obligations toward travelers whose flights are disrupted, even when the delays or cancellations are caused by an “exceptional circumstance” beyond the carriers' control.

The Canadian Transportation Agency's changes to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, announced Saturday, would require carriers to provide meals to passengers whose flights are delayed by at least two hours as well as accommodation for the night if necessary.

Airlines should also provide refunds within 15 days rather than the current 30 days if a passenger prefers to be refunded rather than rebook when their flight is canceled or delayed by at least three hours or when this passenger is excluded from the flight. This change in deadline aims to better align with practices in force in the United States and the European Union, said the federal agency.

Ottawa says exceptional circumstances include security threats, unplanned airport closures, bird strikes, weather conditions and damage to aircraft that could affect flight safety.

The Canadian Transportation Agency has been working to amend regulations associated with the Canada Transportation Act since the Liberal government passed legislation last year to tighten the rules relating to passenger rights.

These reforms place the onus on airlines to prove that a flight disruption is caused by safety concerns or reasons beyond their control.

Previously, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which came into force in 2019, divided flight disruptions into three categories: those caused by factors over which the carrier has control, disruptions over which the carrier has control but which are necessary for security reasons as well as those over which the airline has no control.

Passengers were only entitled to compensation in the first of these categories.

However, the federal agency said the categorization system was too complex and led to “varied and divergent interpretations” by air carriers and passengers, particularly when a traveler's compensation claim was refused or when the cause of a flight disruption was unclear.

The agency said it has received more than 150,000 air travel complaints since 2019 and many of them have not been resolved.

Eliminate gray areas

Transport Minister Anita Anand said the proposed changes aim to simplify the rules for travelers and air carriers.

The proposed changes eliminate gray areas and ambiguity around when passengers are entitled to compensation, which will ensure faster resolution.

We will strive to strike a fair balance between protecting passenger rights and promoting a competitive aviation sectorshe added.

Changes are now subject to a 75-day feedback period.

Under the amended rules, airlines are generally not required to compensate passengers for inconvenience caused in situations that involve the prescribed exceptional circumstances.

However, they provide examples of delays or cancellations where carriers must still do so despite these exceptional factors.

If a flight has been canceled or a passenger has been overbooked, the proposed changes require the air carrier to reserve seats for affected passengers on its next available flight or on a flight of a partner airline, even in exceptional circumstances.

Airlines also have an obligation to reserve a seat on another flight for a passenger who has missed or is likely to miss a connecting flight due to a previous disruption of a flight on the same route.

The regulations include a maximum fine of $250,000 for airline infractions, an amount that was originally proposed by the Liberals' 2023 bill. This is a ten-fold increase over existing penalties. .

The federal agency estimates that the proposed changes would cost carriers approximately 99 cents per passenger segment, that is, a single flight taken by the same passenger, which would give a total of approximately $512 million over a period of 10 years after the entry into force of these modifications.