You close all your tasks for the day, prepare your itinerary carefully, and reach the airport after navigating traffic, only to find out that your flight is delayed indefinitely without any prior notification or canceled without any reason. Or, the airlines had a major technical glitch, and all passengers, including you, are now stranded in the airport with no further overview of what’s happening. It's not an ideal situation, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, many airlines in many countries still don’t compensate their passengers for all the hassles they have to go through and all the itineraries and planning that get disrupted. Identifying the intensity of troubles passengers have to navigate, the Canadian Supreme Court, very recently, in its verdict in its verdict, directed all airlines to compensate passengers for major international flight disruptions like flight delays and cancellations. What does this mean for passengers? And why is this a significant ruling, and how will it benefit you? This blog has got you covered.
The Supreme Court of Canada has recently declared that airlines must compensate passengers for various international flight disruptions like denied entry due to overbooking, delays, cancellations, etc. And that, Canada's air passenger protection regulations completely align with this ruling and won't violate any international law.
It was a unanimous ruling, with all nine justices dismissing the appeal filed by two airline companies and a group of air carriers serving Canadian and other global airports. The airlines argued that Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations of 2019 violated the Montreal Convention, which came into force as an international treaty in 2001.
However, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations are known to impose obligations on airlines in cases of flight delays, boarding denials, cancellations, lost or damaged bags, and more. Moreover, these obligations focus on ensuring that airlines take responsibility in cases of flight cancellations, delays, and boarding denial and protect passengers' interests. Airlines are also supposed to explain the reasons behind these disruptions and offer free services like food, drinks, access to lounges, etc., to make passengers feel comfortable, significantly when a flight is delayed on the runway.
Additionally, the airlines must also refund baggage fees if it is lost or damaged permanently, on top of any damages, as mentioned by the Montreal Convention.
The Supreme Court, however, will hear all airlines' challenges to federal passenger protection rules. Liberals table legislation that overhauls passenger rights. Interestingly, more than half of Air Canada's flights during the Canada Day weekend were either delayed or canceled. In such cases, Article 29 of the convention allows the airlines to compensate for any action for damages only if it's subjected to the conditions and limits of liabilities described by the convention.
The airlines also argue that Article 29 needs a provision for compensating passengers only if they are regulated by the conventions, that 2019 passenger protection rules will eventually be violated, and that exclusivity will be lost.
Now the only question that the court considered was whether the compensation regime directed by the 2019 regulations asks the airlines to give flight delay compensation to the passengers along with fixed financial benefits and that it can exist simultaneously with the Montreal Convention.
Do you know that during the Canada Day long weekend this year, Air Canada canceled and delayed nearly 2000 flights? And that nearly half of all departures and arrivals by the country's biggest airlines, like Air Canada Rouge and Jazz Aviation, were disrupted throughout that week?
Around 1965, flights were reported to be delayed or canceled, affecting a whopping 52% of scheduled takeoffs and arrivals. This number, however, contrasts with other Canadian airlines like WestJet , Air Transat , Flair Airlines, etc., which registered somewhat lower disruptions.
Moreover, social and print media were flooded with posts and photos of ever-stretching lines and extremely crowded airports in Toronto and Montreal, as frustrated passengers took to online platforms and shared the hassles they faced and the ultimate chaos at the airport.
In addition, tight-packed schedules, a limited number of air carriers, long overhauls between two destinations for international flights, understaffing, etc, are some of the primary reasons why such a big airline authority like Air Canada ends up giving torments to passengers.
The new Supreme Court verdict will force such airlines to be more proactive and remove the blockers so passengers can have a seamless travel experience. Only in case of exceptions like extreme weather or political unrest will airlines have to assure flight delay compensation and flight cancellation refunds to all affected customers.
In 2001 Canada signed the Montreal Convention and ratified in 2002, and implemented it into the Canadian Law, incorporating it into the Carriage by Air Act. This convention aims to balance the airlines’ interest and international passengers by altering the burden of proof, which means you don’t have to prove inefficiency on the part of your airline carrier to claim compensation, but all the while restricting an airline’s accountability and liability for such refunds.
However, the Federal Government amended the Canada Transportation Act in 2018, making it compulsory for the Montreal Convention to make regulations relating to global air travel. In 2019, the convention implemented this law by introducing the APPRs (Airport Passenger Processing Regulations).
Additionally, these APPRs prescribed, streamlined, and standardized flight delay compensation and refunds for denied boarding and cancellation due to disruptions that could have been controlled by airlines. Provisions also focus on dealing with compensation for baggage fees if the airline damages or loses a passenger’s valuables or baggage when in transit.
However, the International Air Transport Association, the Air Transportation Association of America, and many other carriers challenged the APPRs by making a statutory appeal before the Federal Court of Appeal. The Airlines argued that the APPRs do not align with the principle of exclusivity mentioned in the Montreal Convention provisions, which states that “any action of damage” would be remitted only as mentioned in the Montreal Convention, where the part of actions of damages was supposed to be decided by the court.
The Federal Court of Appeal, therefore, dismissed the challenge held by the Airlines except for the provisions relating to the temporary loss of a passenger’s luggage. The Federal Court held that the compensation given to passengers under the APPRs should never fall within the meaning of “any action for damages” and does not violate any rules of the Montreal Convention, thereby validating all APPRs regulations.
According to the recent verdict, if you are denied boarding overbooking, you will be eligible to claim a refund of as high as $2400. For other sorts of flight delays and cancellations, you can get a flight warrant compensation summing up to $1000. The cherry on top, you can also receive up to $2300 if airlines lose your baggage. However, all these numbers are subject to change based on the exchange rates.
All these measures will focus on pushing airlines to improve flying experiences for passengers and comply with the rights of travelers. Moreover, since its inception five years ago, the government has taken several significant steps to tighten these rules and pave the way for proactive measures to reduce airport chaos, overcrowded baggage belt areas, and never-ending security lines.
Additionally, in 2023, the government amended several laws to bridge the gaps that allowed airlines, over time, to avoid responsibilities towards passengers, never paying them the deserved flight delay compensation or flight cancellation refund. These laws will now help the CTA to build a more solid and streamlined infrastructure for travelers’ complaint resolution. Additionally, the new provision will also help structure penalties by implementing a whopping $250,000 maximum fine for airline violations and ensure compliance, which is ten times increase compared to the earlier regulations.
There’s also another amendment that is yet to come into effect and will ensure that the regulatory cost of complaints lies in the airlines’ court. This means the measure costing airlines $790 per complaint under a recent proposal by one of the regulators will improve the airlines’ services, thereby reducing grievances against them. Meanwhile, the complaints continue to be stored at Canada’s transport regulator, reporting claims as high as 78,000 last month.
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Hope this blog helps you understand the new flight delay compensation introduced by the Canadian Supreme Court and how it gives an edge to passengers over airlines. The challenge made by airlines in Canada against APPRs is proof of how, most of the time, authorities prefer unburdening themselves of their responsibilities towards their passengers, neglecting the basic protection rules.
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