Air passengers: A new tool for understanding your rights
According to a recent Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) survey1, 61% of Canadians say they have experienced, or know someone who has experienced, a flight disruption in the past two years. To that end, there are federal air passenger protection regulations—more than 30 pages. To help travellers understand this information, CAA launched its new Air Passenger Help Guide today, a user-friendly tool to find what you need in five or fewer clicks.
The Air Passenger Help Guide is available here and can be added to favorite on smartphones.
“Travelling can be complex, and the rules protecting air travellers are complicated. CAA is stepping up by providing Canadians with the information they need when things go wrong,” says Ian Jack, vice-president, public affairs for CAA National.
The Air Passenger Help Guide allows globetrotters to easily and quickly understand their airline’s obligations, depending on the type of disruption they experience. Delays, flight cancellations, lost baggage—there are many possible disruptions when you’re travelling by plane.
“Travel is part of our everyday lives. The goal of this new guide is to arm our customers with a thorough understanding of their rights, for an informed and stress-free travel experience. Because every flight deserves complete peace of mind.”
– Philippe Blain, Vice President Travel Services
Airlines must meet their obligations
CAA is calling on the federal government to be more transparent about statistics such as on-time flights and lost baggage so that the public can judge the performance of airlines. In the spring of 2023, the Canadian Transportation Agency received over 45,000 passenger complaints.
Despite the efforts put in place, 40% of Canadians say the Air Passenger Protection Regulations are ineffective, which is twice as many as the last time CAA asked the question in 2021.
“CAA runs one of Canada’s largest leisure-travel agencies and has been a strong advocate of strengthening passenger protections. CAA has been pushing the federal government to simplify the rules to make them easier to use,” says Jack. “But until then, CAA’s Air Passenger Help Guide will be there to help air travellers when something goes wrong.”
About CAA-Quebec
CAA-Quebec offers a wide range of assistance services in a wide variety of sectors, drawing on a human approach. As a socially committed organization, CAA-Quebec strives on a daily basis to protect the interests of its members. And in keeping with its values of reliability and benevolence, it fosters responsible consumption and promotes road safety.
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1-The CAA survey mentioned above was conducted from October 20 to 30, 2023, among 2,503 Canadians. A probability sample of the same size would have resulted in a margin of error of ± 2%.