Canadian Transportation Agency flooded with 3,000 complaints over delayed flight compensation

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has been flooded with more than 3,000 complaints from passengers in recent weeks, questioningwhy their airlines denied them compensation for delayed flights.

The complaints 3,037 in all poured in over theeight-week period, from Dec. 15 to Feb. 13.

To give someperspective, that tally isequal to about 40 per cent of the 7,650 complaintsinvolving all passenger beefs that the CTA received in theentirety of its most recentfiscal year.

The federal government introduced new regulations on Dec.15 thatmandate airlines must pay up to $1,000 in compensation for flight delays andcancellations within the airline's control and not safety-related.

At the time, Transport MinisterMarc Garneau said the rules would give passengers protections that are "clear, consistent, transparent and fair."

However, the new regulations have led to confusion and frustration for many passengers who claim the airlines aren't providing valid reasons whendenying compensation.

"Clearly passengers are upset," said Michael Kerr, who believesAir Canada unfairly denied him compensation.

The CTAis investigating the Toronto man'scase as part of an official inquirylaunched on Feb. 13, which will examine many of the 3,037 complaints.

Kerr filed a complaint with the CTA after Air Canada rejected his compensation claim following an eight-hour delay on a Halifax-to-Toronto flight on Feb. 2.

Air Canada crew had promised passengers on the flight compensation, he said, even handingout compensation information pamphlets. However, the airlinelater rejected Kerr's claim, stating in an email that the plane was delayed due to a "safety-related issue."

"I was kind of surprised by that," said Kerr. "It kind of seemed like an escape hatch for them to get out of the financial reimbursements."

CTA inquiry looks at 570 complaints

Kerr's complaint is one of 570 selected by theCTA for its inquiry; 378 of thosecomplaints involve Air Canada, which is Canada's largest airline,and the remaining 192 are scatteredamong Sunwing, WestJet, Air Transat, Swoop and United Airlines.

The CTA said itdoesn't have the resources to investigate all 3,037 complaints as part of theinquiry, andthat the remaining 2,467will be dealt with at a later date.

The agencydidn't offer a timeline for the remaining complaints, but said the inquiry's findings may help in resolving them.

Consumer advocate John Lawford said he warned the federal government that it would be swamped with complaints in response to the new regulations and that it neededto allocate more resources toward resolving them.

"When you have a federally regulated service that affects every Canadian, like transport or banking or telecom, you're going to have in the tens of thousands of complaints," said Lawford, the executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre."I just don't think that they were [ready]."

Transport Canada told CBC Newsthat the government had already beefed up the CTA's resources before the new rules took affect and that itwill continue to monitor the situation.

The new regulationsare clear and consistent and"if airlines do not follow the rules, they will be subject to fines,"Transport Canada spokesperson John Cottreausaid in an email.

What about the airlines?

Lawfordalso expressed disappointment withthe airlines, suggesting they'retrying to interpret the regulations in their favour whenever possible.

"They're gonna push it right up to the line, because they're for-profit businesses and they don't want to spend money on this," he said.

Air Canada,which carries more than 50 million passengersannually,told CBC News that its policy is to abide by the new regulations and that it has devoted "considerable resources" to dealing with compensation claims.

"It is not unreasonable that an adjustment period would be required to adapt to these complicated new rules," the airline said in an email.

WestJet, Swoop andUnited Airlines all said that they intend to co-operate with the CTA's inquiry, whileAir Transat and Sunwing declined to comment while the inquiry is ongoing.

The underlying problem is that the airlines have been allowed to design their own complaints process,Lawford said, adding thathe hopes the CTA inquiry will lead to new guidelines or specific additional regulations on how airlines respond to complaints.

"In order to bury the hatchet on all this, the minister should issue actual regulations," he said.

If Kerr wins his case with the CTA, he'll likely get $700 in compensation. But he said his main hope with the inquiry is that it leads to positive changes for all air passengers.

"I hope there are stricter rules and that there are no escape hatches, where airlines tryto say one thing, but actually something else goes on behind the scenes."

It doesn't appear that any of the 3,037 CTA complaints have yet been resolved, but several Air Canada passengers who previously spoke to CBC News about their issues have reported that that airline has since offered them compensation.