A better protection for airline passengers

Lost or damaged luggage, being bumped due to overbooking, lengthy flight delays, cancellations,complicated fares . . . Does this sound annoyingly familiar? Did you know that travellers embroiled in these kinds of situations are better protected in the United States and Europe than they are here in Canada? Americans and Europeans have their rights and recourses clearly spelled out by their own legal charters.

Since 2005, the European Passenger Bill of Rights has proven to be the most comprehensive. In the event of boarding denial, overbooking, flight cancellation or delay − whether due to unforeseeable circumstances or not − this charter has compensation protocols that all airlines  are obliged to respect. The rules − for reimbursement, re-routing, meals and accommodation, compensation − are clear, as is the process the discomfited passenger needs to follow.

The charter also covers  lost or damaged luggage and establishes regulations for a transparent listing of fares online.assed in 2009, the U.S. law is not as broad-based. It does cover lost or damaged luggage, explicit listing of final prices, boarding denied due to overbooking, 
for example, but it doesn’t deal with compensation for flight delays.

Still, passengers enjoy solid overall protection. Nothing like that exists in our country. Since 2008, we’ve had a voluntary code of conduct for airline companies by virtue of Canada’s Transport Act, but consumers still need to try and solve their own problems before they can file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency.

No doubt only the most persistent complainants can ever hope for a settlement.Canada must act. A law along the lines of European or American standards is imperative. In 2014, 124.5 million passengers passed through Canadian airports. Air travel has increased by 45 percent since 2004. Isn’t it time to put in place a legal mechanism to set air travellers’ minds at rest before, during and after their flights? If, like me, you believe that we need to redress the balance of power, note that we’re not alone. In a CAA survey conducted last June, almost 90 percent of respondents replied that it was important or very important to adopt such a charter. CAA-Quebec joins all other CAA chapters – 6.2 million members in total – to demand just such a course of action. In particular, a bill of rights will make the work of our travel counsellors much more effective, mindful as they always are of offering as complete a package as possible to their customers. Are you on board with us?

Richard Lachance
President and CEO