Compensating passengers for flight disruptions not enough: Advocate

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A consumer advocate says two recent regulatory rulings ordering Canadian airlines to compensate passengers for flight disruptions won’t be enough to improve air travel in this country.

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In two separate rulings this summer, the Canadian Transportation Agency sided with three individual complainants who had each had flights disrupted due to airline crew shortages.

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The CTA ordered Air Canada to pay $1,000 each to Lisa Crawford and her son, who had their August 2021 flights from Fort St. John, B.C. to Halifax delayed by 16 hours.

The CTA also ordered WestJet to pay $1,000 to a passenger whose cancelled flight from Ottawa in July 2021 meant he arrived at his destination in Regina, Sask. 21 hours later than scheduled.

Gabor Lukacs, founder of the advocacy group Air Passenger Rights, says thousands of Canadians have filed complaints about disrupted flights to the Canadian Transportation Agency this year.

He says compensation for three passengers isn’t enough. He says the CTA should be imposing stiff monetary penalties on airlines for failing to comply with Canada’s air passenger bill of rights.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2022.

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