A top Canadian airline executive says he’s opposed to the idea of giving passengers automatic refunds for delayed or cancelled flights.
Speaking on CTV’s Question Period today, Andrew Gibbons, WestJet’s vice-president of external affairs says the airline is opposed to what the network called “wall-to-wall federal rules around automatic compensation for passengers in the event of flight delays.”
“We don’t think bulk automatic policies are the way to go,” Andrew Gibbons told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday. “We do like to have an individual relationship with our guests.”
Some Canadian travel experts have called on Ottawa to provide automatic payments to passengers who face substantial delays or cancelled flights. Canadian government egulations require an airline to compensate passengers when a flight is delayed or cancelled for a reason that is within the airline’s control.
Currently, consumers who want a refund have to petition the airlines for relief. If they’re denied, they can complain to the Canadian Transportation Agency, an arms-length, independent group.
Critics point out that the CTA, however, has a backlog of 30,000 cases, and that the waiting time for a hearing is up to 18 months.
Omar Alghabra, Canada’s Transport Minister, told a House of Commons committee last week that the Trudeau government wants to see changes to the current rules. But he didn’t spell out any details.
Gibbons told the committee that all aspects of the travel industry, not just airlines, need to be accountable for meeting consumer service standards.
“The government must address the most glaring gap in consumer protection in Canada today. And this is the fact that your delay or cancel can be caused by many groups, yet only airlines have regulations governing our activities,” he said.
“We believe this committee should demand equal policies for any entity that provides a service that can result in a delay or cancel. This includes government entities, airport authorities, NAV Canada, and others
“Strengthening overall accountability across our entire aviation system will improve service for all, bring down complaints, and provide the transparency our guests and all travelers deserve,” Gibbons said.
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“An individual relationship with our guests.” What a joke! From an outfit that won’t answer phones and won’t communicate with customers when things go south that is just a pathetic joke. This is just more waffle in an attempt to keep Canada’s current consumer ‘protection’ rules which make this country a doormat for non-performing, non-service oriented airlines.