Backlog of airline complaints balloons by 6,395 since December travel chaos: Canadian Transportation Agency
Backlog of airline complaints balloons by 6,395 since December travel chaos: Canadian Transportation Agency
The fallout from the December travel chaos continues, as the backlog of complaints made to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) keeps growing.
As of Jan. 31, there have been 6,395 new complaints made to the agency since Dec. 21. Of these complaints, 2,028 are related to Air Canada, 1,951 are related to WestJet and 761 are related to Sunwing, the CTA told CTV National News on Tuesday.
Under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, Canadians are entitled to receive up to $1,000 in compensation for delays and cancellations, depending on the size of the airline and the length of the delay, as long as the delay was within the airlines' control and not related to safety.
Filing a complaint with the CTA is supposed to be a last resort, when Canadian air passengers are denied compensation and unable to resolve their dispute while dealing directly with the airline. But instead of a prompt resolution, passengers are being told to take a number.
In total, the CTA says it's dealing with a backlog of more than 36,000 complaints, with complainants facing wait times of up to 18 months for a decision.
"We have received more complaints than we have been able to process in a given period of time," Tom Oommen, chief compliance and enforcement officer of the CTA, told CTV National News.
Dave Britton is one of the thousands of complainants waiting to hear back on a decision from the CTA. He was denied compensation by WestJet after his family trip was cancelled, but there are more than 33,000 people in line ahead of him.
"If the system works even remotely the way it's supposed to, I think we will get compensated. But if that's going to be two years from now, that money is not going to help us anytime soon," he told CTV National News. "And it's certainly not going to ease any of the pain and suffering and having to battle for something that you're entitled to."
Lawyer Adam Pawlovich, who is also waiting to hear back on a complaint from the CTA after his flight from Mexico was detoured, says he's considering filing a claim at small claims court given how long it's taking the CTA.
"We're not seeing resolution for consumers. If you don't take steps to protect your rights … at some point you're going to be out of time to seek your remedy," he told CTV National News.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra has vowed to strengthen passenger protections and rules for airlines after the recent travel woes. On Tuesday, when asked about the thousands of new complaints to the CTA, he said he can "feel their frustration."
Alghabra added: "We are taking action and we're going to do what we can to fix the system."
Walmart Canada is not trying to profit from food inflation, president and CEO Gonzalo Gebara told a parliamentary committee studying the issue Monday evening.
Hockey Canada says players from the 2018 world junior hockey team will not be considered for international competition until an investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving members of the team is complete.
The suspect in a Nashville school shooting on Monday had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance before killing three students and three adults in the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.
A huge landslide swept over an Andean community in central Ecuador, burying dozens of homes, killing at least seven people and sending rescuers on a frantic search for survivors, authorities said Monday.
Here is a summary of the current COVID-19 vaccination guidelines from NACI, for both children and adults who are at increased risk of serious illness and those who are not.
As artificial intelligence software and advanced computers revolutionize modern technology, some researchers see a future where computer programmers leap from silicon to organic molecules.
After a few altered images of Pope Francis sporting a white puffer jacket convinced the online world the Catholic leader could be a part-time fashion icon, one expert warns the rapid improvement of AI could pose larger societal problems.
The 2023 federal budget will include a one-time 'grocery rebate' for Canadians with lower incomes who may be struggling with the rising cost of food, CTV News has confirmed.
The Vancouver Park Board and Britannia Community Services Centre cancelled an event Sunday that had been advertised as part of an Indigenous concert series in Grandview Park.
W5 investigates aging asbestos pipes across Canada and the potential health hazards if it ends up in your tap water. Watch W5's 'Something in the Water' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
W5 investigates aging asbestos pipes across Canada and the potential health hazards if it ends up in your tap water. An interactive map and chart on W5.CTVNews.ca shows where in Canada these asbestos cement pipes are being used.
CTV W5 speaks with members of the comedy industry, including Russell Peters, for a wide-ranging look at how political correctness and 'cancel culture' has changed the world of stand-up comedy.
An Ontario couple has filed a request with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) to appoint a new police force to investigate the death of their 17-year-old son Benjamin, who died during a hockey team-bonding event in September 2019.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in 'What Happened to Ben' on CTV W5.
The RCMP knew about a potential cocaine shipment from the Dominican Republic to Toronto aboard a Canadian charter flight but inexplicably allowed the crew that discovered and reported the drugs to be detained for months without intervening, a W5 investigation has revealed.
CTV W5 investigates what authorities knew about plans to smuggle cocaine out of the Dominican Republic on a Toronto-bound Pivot Airlines flight. The airline's crew is demanding justice following their eight-month detention.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says it will be up to the new owners of the Senators to decide whether to build a new arena at LeBreton Flats or at another location in Ottawa.
The 2023 federal budget will include a one-time 'grocery rebate' for Canadians with lower incomes who may be struggling with the rising cost of food, CTV News has confirmed.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says the league will evaluate its Pride nights in the offseason after several players have refused to wear Pride-themed jerseys this season.
Sigfrid Stahn sat in the courtroom on Monday as his defence lawyer tried to sway the jury to the possibility the victim, Guenter Naumann, 77, had alcohol in his system at the time of the head-on collision on Highway 12 in Waubaushene nearly three years ago.
Trevor Hendershott, 37, of Woodstock has been in custody since his arrest on March 9, but on Monday after a bail hearing, he was granted bail with a number of strict conditions.
Word Tuesday’s federal budget will include a one-time “grocery rebate” for low-income Canadians is welcome news for shoppers outside Windsor grocery stores.
WARNING: Graphic content The first-degree murder trial of three Toronto-area men, Keermaro Rolle, Tameko Vilneus and Kyle Hanna continued in Windsor Superior Court on Monday.
Police say they have found the sixth and seventh bodies inside a building in Old Montreal that burned down 11 days ago and do not expect find any more victims. With the death toll now expected to remain at seven, police said they can begin to focus their efforts on finding the cause of the deadly March 16 fire.
A small community west of Quebec City is mourning the loss of a nine-year-old girl who died after a snow fort collapsed. Provincial police (SQ) say it happened Sunday afternoon in the woods behind a rural home in Saint-Ubalde in the Portneuf RCM.
The 2023 federal budget will include a one-time 'grocery rebate' for Canadians with lower incomes who may be struggling with the rising cost of food, CTV News has confirmed.
A recent W5 investigation has found there are 721 kilometres of asbestos cement pipes in Winnipeg, and 25 per cent of the water main networks is also made of the material.
The City of Winnipeg says $8.2 million worth of unpaid parking fines is now eligible for collection. Notices have been sent in the mail by a collection agency, Gatestone & Co Inc., to collect the unpaid tickets.
A police abolitionist group is calling on a Winnipeg city councillor to apologize and step down as police board chair after using what some consider to be a divisive symbol in a tweet earlier this month.
Four people escaped from a house on fire in southeast Calgary on Monday night, and quick action by firefighters prevented the blaze from getting worse.
Family and friends of two police officers who were shot and killed while responding to a family dispute gathered in downtown Edmonton Monday to say goodbye to their loved ones.
Community members and police services from across the country gathered on Monday to mourn two Edmonton Police Service officers killed in the line of duty earlier this month.
On March 27, a regimental funeral was held for Edmonton Police Service Constables Travis Jordan and Brett Ryan who were killed in the line of duty on March 16, 2023.
A years-long planning process to determine the future of the Riverview psychiatric hospital grounds in B.C. was quietly halted at the start of this year, CTV News has learned.
The Vancouver Park Board and Britannia Community Services Centre cancelled an event Sunday that had been advertised as part of an Indigenous concert series in Grandview Park.
The 2023 federal budget will include a one-time 'grocery rebate' for Canadians with lower incomes who may be struggling with the rising cost of food, CTV News has confirmed.
Despite delayed decision-making by parliamentarians, Canada's massive renovation of Parliament Hill's Centre Block is being effectively managed so far, according to a new audit. However, 'rigorous' cost management will be needed as the work proceeds, cautions auditor general Karen Hogan.
Toronto MP Han Dong says he is taking legal action over a media report that alleged he spoke to a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 about delaying the release of two Canadians detained in China at the time.
Hershey Co. is looking to reduce 'trace' amounts of lead and cadmium in its chocolate, chief financial officer Steve Voskiul told Reuters on Wednesday, after Consumer Reports found that some dark chocolate bars had potentially harmful levels of the heavy metals.
A new study that looked at more than 300,000 patients found that a medical consultation prior to a routine surgery wasn’t connected to a better surgical outcome, suggesting these consultations might not be necessary.
In some U.S. states, proponents of gender-affirming care bans have argued for the last few years that minors are too young to make these medical decisions — but in 2023, legislative attempts to limit the health-care options for transgender youth have expanded to a new age group: adults.
As artificial intelligence software and advanced computers revolutionize modern technology, some researchers see a future where computer programmers leap from silicon to organic molecules.
A New Mexico judge said Santa Fe's district attorney shouldn't serve as co-counsel in the manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons supervisor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during a 2021 movie rehearsal.
Oscar-winning actor and producer Reese Witherspoon and her talent agent husband Jim Toth said on Friday they had made the 'difficult decision to divorce.'
The Fox News producer who accused the right-wing network of pressuring her into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion defamation case has been fired, she disclosed in new court filings.
Walmart Canada is not trying to profit from food inflation, president and CEO Gonzalo Gebara told a parliamentary committee studying the issue Monday evening.
Japan is lifting the last of its restrictions against Canadian beef, 20 years after BSE, often called mad cow disease, devastated this country's cattle industry.
North Carolina-based First Citizens will buy Silicon Valley Bank, the tech industry-focused financial institution that collapsed earlier this month, rattling the banking industry and sending shockwaves around the world.
Some 200 protesters gathered beneath Rio de Janeiro's world-famous Sugarloaf Mountain to protest the ongoing construction of ziplines aimed at boosting tourism, alleging it will cause unacceptable impacts.
This past week, Parks Canada opened up its reservation system for the 2023 season, offering places to stay, hikes to take and national historic sites to visit across the country. According to three experts, here's where to travel this summer.
Japanese chef Tomoya Kawada has achieved a feat no other restaurateur has before; he's created the world's only three-Michelin-star Chinese restaurant in a non-Chinese-speaking city.
Tereza Vanisova scored 4:23 into overtime, and the Premier Hockey Federation's Isobel Cup is heading to Canada for the first time in its eight-year history following the Toronto Six's 4-3 win over the Minnesota Whitecaps on Sunday night.
If you're feeling alone or dissatisfied, a new research suggests that watching live sports in person may help you to improve your level of well-being and reduce that feeling of loneliness.
Cristiano Ronaldo is feeling at home again. It took only two games for him to make his peace with Portugal's national team and show he is not done impressing at the international level just yet.
About two-thirds of people with disabilities encountered barriers on federally regulated planes and trains in 2019 and 2020, highlighting a lack of consultation and enforcement by agencies involved, the federal auditor general says in a new report.
Germany and the European Union announced Saturday that they have reached an agreement in their dispute over the future of cars with combustion engines, allowing the registration of new vehicles with such engines even after 2035 provided they use climate-neutral fuel only.
A new survey conducted by Research Co. found that the majority of Canadians support tying speeding ticket fines to income, otherwise known as ‘progressive punishment.’
