Travelers'WoesProofBetterPassengerProtectionNeeded

tarmacforhoursonend.Forthosefewwhowere luckyenoughtoleaveinareasonabletimeframe to their destination, many were stranded due to their return flights being cancelled.And a good numberofthosewhowereluckyenoughtohave limited disruptions on the date of travel, were frustratedbyotherissues,suchaslostluggage.

AirlinesandtheCanadianTransportation Agency (CTA) have been inundated with complaints from travelers. Sunwing has reportedly received over seven thousand complaints from customers since holiday travel disruptionsbegan.Lastweek,FrancePégeot,the ChairandCEOoftheCTA,whichisresponsible for consumer protection for air passengers, advised the House of Commons Transport, Infrastructure and Communities committee that they had a current backlog of over 30,000 complaints, which does not include complaints relatedtotheholidayseasonfiasco.

At that committee meeting, the Transportation Minister, who is responsible for overseeingCanada'sairlines,statedthathefound the travel disruptions and passenger treatment “unacceptable”andthatairlineprotocolsneedto be reviewed. These travel disruptions clearly show that passenger treatment does need to be considered and prioritized, and that current regulations are clearly insufficient at addressing actualcustomercomplaints.

Air Passenger Protection Regulations, whichwerebroughtintoforcein2019andhave since been updated to include disruptions and cancellations of flights that are outside of the control of airports and airlines (including bad weather), indicate that customers need to be compensatedappropriatelyforthosedisruptions. However,inmanycases,customersareforcedto retombée,ilsemblequelegouvernementfédéral n'ait pas tiré de leçons en ce qui concerne la perturbationdesdéplacementsquisévitdansles aéroports depuis le début de l'été et des responsabilités de ces derniers relatifs aux retards,auniveaudeserviceetauxdifférends.

Lesproblèmesrelatifsauxdéplacements qui ont été révélés peuvent être qualifiés de simplesinconvénientsdanscertainscas,maison constate aussi des cas qui frôlent la négligence. Bien des gens ont sans doute entendu parler du train de VIA Rail bondé resté à l'arrêt entre OttawaetTorontopendantplusde18heures.Ily aaussieud'innombrablesreportagesausujetde passagers forcés de rester sur le tarmac pendant desheures.Parmilesraresquionteulachancede pouvoir se rendre à destination dans un délai raisonnable,nombreuxsontceuxquin'ontpaspu rentrer au pays parce que leur vol a été annulé. Dans bien des cas, ceux qui ont pu voyager jump through hoops just to attempt to receive compensation, with some customers waiting up to18monthstoreceiveadequatecompensation. presquesansencombreontvécud'autresennuis, commelapertedeleursbagages.

The Air Passenger Protection Regulationshavetoomanyloopholesthatallow airlines to avoid compensating customers. The legislationneedstobebroughtinlinewithother industrialized nations. Compensation for customers should be automatic for flight disruptions, with refunds issued directly to the purchaser when airlines can't meet their obligations to the traveler. Further, any and all loopholes that allow airlines to avoid refunding customersshouldbeclosed.

Justasimportantly,enforcementneedsto be tougher, and it's vital that the Canadian Transportation Agency ensure they work in the best interests of travelers. In the past five years, only one carrier, WestJet, has been issued fines fornotprovidingadequatecompensationtotheir customers, regarding a series of flight cancellationsinlateJanuaryoflastyear,totaling only$11,000.Ifcarriersseelittleriskinensuring they adhere to the regulations, then there is no incentivetocomplyleavingcustomerswithlittle protection or recourse. The CTA, as a quasijudicial tribunal and regulator, has the power to issue stiff fines and penalties when airlines violate the terms of the act, but the act must be enforced, and those 30,000 complaints, whether or not they reveal carriers refusing to adhere to theact,mustbeaddressed.

It'simportantthatairlinestreatCanadians with respect. We know that disruptions can and will happen. We know that bad weather may delay or cancel a flight. But what travelers shouldn'tbeleftquestioningiswhethertheywill receivethecompensationthatisowedtothem.

Lescompagniesaériennesetl'Officedes transports du Canada (OTC) croulent sous les plaintesdesvoyageurs.Sunwingauraitreçuplus de 7 000 plaintes de voyageurs depuis le début desperturbationsdesvoyagespendantlesFêtes. La semaine dernière, France Pégeot, présidente et première dirigeante de l'OTC, l'organisme responsable de la protection de la clientèle des compagnies aériennes, informait le Comité des transports, de l'infrastructure et des collectivités de la Chambre des communes qu'il y avait un arriérédeplusde30000plaintesàl'OTC,etc'est sans compter les plaintes reçues en raison du fiascovécupendantlapériodedesFêtes.

Lors de cette réunion, le ministre des Transports, qui est responsable des compagnies aériennesauCanada,aaffirméqueles Cont’donP.9