As contract negotiations continue, passengers face potential headaches from cancelled flights and trip disruptions as early as Sunday.
While Air Canada has shared advice for travellers ahead of a possible pilots strike, an airline passenger rights advocate has more tips for Canadians who may be affected.
Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passenger Rights, an independent non-profit advocacy group in Halifax, advises travellers to avoid cancelling flights themselves so they can hold Air Canada liable for extra expenses. The airline must refund your airfare, in the original form of payment, if you choose not to travel after the airline cancelled your flight, he said.
"So my recommendation to passengers is always to wait until the airline cancels and then you have far more rights," Lukacs said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday, noting Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations, also known as the APPR, apply once the airline cancels flights. "If you cancel as a passenger, then you are at your Air Canada's mercy as long as they are operating the flight. …
"Whatever the airline's policy says, that's what (a) passenger has to follow if you decide to cancel just because you're chickening out from the travel."
If the airline pre-emptively cancels flights before a strike, it should be responsible for passengers' expenses, Lukacs said.
"As long as the pilots have not actually walked off the job, any cancellation that occurs is within Air Canada's control," Lukacs said. "(Airlines) are responsible for meals, accommodation and they also have to pay passengers a lump sum compensation up to $1,000 per passenger for these cancellations based on how long (of a) delay the cancellation causes."
But once the strike officially happens, not including the strike notice, the airline doesn't owe passengers any lump sum compensation, he said.
Don't accept the airline's refunds of your airfare if your flight is affected by a strike and you still want to travel, Lukacs said.
"What airlines love doing is tell you we're going to refund your airfare and then you can go and buy yourself a ticket on a different airline," he said. "But in most cases, that new ticket is going to be way more expensive. So by accepting a refund, the airline may be able to wash its hands from the expense of your new alternate transportation. And under the law, it is the airline which is supposed to buy you a new transportation, not you."
Collect evidence, such as recording audio conversations, in case of disputes. If the airline refuses to pay for the ticket, then buy the ticket yourself and after you finish travelling, send the bill to the airline, Lukacs said.
"And if they refuse to pay, take them to small claims court," he said, noting it won't require big fees, you won't need a lawyer and the judges will be impartial. "Stand your ground. Don't be a pushover."
If an airline cancels a flight because of a strike, it must always offer you two choices, according to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, or APPR.
One option is to rebook your flight free of charge, whether your destination is in Canada or internationally. If an airline can't rebook you on one of its flights or through a partner airline, then it must place you on a competitor's flight.
"Air Canada cannot wash its hands and say, 'Sorry, we don't have any flights. It has to take out its corporate credit card and buy you a WestJet or a Porter ticket even in business class if that's the only thing available."
Air Passenger Rights recommends consulting other websites.
"It may be beneficial to consult a flight booking website to determine what the next available flights in fact are, as some airlines may try to put you on flights departing many hours or days later, in contravention of their rebooking obligation under the APPR," Air Passenger Rights says on its website.
A second option is to get a refund in the original form of payment within 30 days of "all unused flight segments and segments that no longer serve any purpose." As well, you are entitled to complimentary transportation to your point of origin if you are not there already and there's no longer any point to travel because of the cancellation.
What's more, you may be compensated for out-of-pocket expenses, such as meals, hotels and lost wages, and inconvenience, for international travel, the group wrote on its website.
If your destination is entirely within Canada, your only protection during a strike is Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations, though you may have additional rights under other legislation. APPR applies to all flights to and from Canada.
According to APPR, a strike of an airline's employees is considered "outside the carrier's control," but the airline must offer you the two options mentioned above.
If you bought a ticket in Canada but the flight is outside the country, you have additional rights to get your expenses and damages reimbursed under the Carriage by Air Act, Lukacs said.
The situation is different for passengers travelling internationally since they are covered by the Carriage by Air Act. The airline will need to compensate passengers for meals, accommodation, lost wages and other expenses, but not the lump sum that applies for Canadian destinations.
"It's their own pilots and Air Canada is responsible for its own labour affairs," Lukacs said. "There are several decisions from the European top courts interpreting the law and it's clear that strikes are part of the normal business in an airline so they have to handle it. … It is not something that is outside their control in the eyes of the international law in Canada."
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