Canadian airlines could soon face tougher rules for delays and cancellations, a top official in the Justin Trudeau government says.
Speaking in the wake of a bad bout of holiday travel chaos that left hundreds of Canadians stranded over Christmas and New Year’s, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the country’s recently-updated air passenger protection rules could be in for more changes that would help consumers.
Alghabra told the CBC he’s looking at rules that would put the onus on airlines to deal with complaints, and not force consumers to file complaints with the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA).
“Last summer and this winter, we’ve seen certain examples where passengers felt they were not communicated with, their rights were not upheld,” he said. “So we need to strengthen the rules.”
“Currently, it feels to many passengers that the burden is on them,” Alghabra said. “We want to make sure we put rules in place to ensure that the burden is on the airline.”
Canadian consumers have long looked ruefully at tough airline rules that are in place in Europe, and, to a lesser degree, the United States.
Painful as the holiday travel woes were, they could lead to improvements for Canadian consumers who want to take on the airlines over cancelled or delayed flights, or potentially lost baggage.
Hundreds of Sunwing passengers were stranded in Mexico over the holidays, while weather and other issues plagued passengers flying in and out of Vancouver International Airport and Toronto Pearson.
