Discount airlines topped air travel complaints in Canada, says transport agency

After a year when many would-be travellers experienced airports clogged by hours-long lineups for security, only to have their flights delayed and cancelled, or their luggage lost, travelling by plane was an experience in frustration for many in 2022.

The reality of that frustration can be seen in new data released by the Canadian Transportation Agency on Monday. The agency, which is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator of transportation, released a new dashboard on the number of complaints airlines received between April and September of 2022.

The complaint data is drawn from information submitted by passengers to the CTA.

When it comes to Canadian carriers, the results indicate that the CTA received more complaints about discount airlines.

Between April and Sept. 2022, the CTA received 13.7 complaints per 100 flights for Flair Airlines, and 12.6 complaints per 100 flights for Swoop Inc.

As well, Sunwing Airlines received 8.6 complains per 100 flights, while WestJet received 4.9,and Air Canada received 3.6 per 100 flights. Air Transat had the lowest complaint rate at 2.2 complaints per 100 flights.

The CTA also provided data on complaints applying to foreign-operated airlines. The highest number of complaints applied to Qatar Airways, which received 24.1 complaints per 100 flights

Following Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines received 14.7 complaints per 100 flights, Air India received 13.7, Royal Air Maroc received 13.3, Etihad Airways received 12.9 and TAP Air Portugal received 11.9.With Flair receiving 13.7 complaints, it ties Air India for the third-most complaints made toward an airline.

The complaint data will be updated by the CTA on a quarterly basis, it states in the news release.

YEAR OF AIRPORT CHAOS

At the end of 2021, air travel was only beginning to bounce back and had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. According to Statistics Canada, 3.9 million passengers flew on chartered or scheduled flights in December 2021, which represented a 45.2 per cent decline compared to December 2019.

Overall, 2021 saw air carriers suspend operations for periods of time, as the year began with lockdowns across Canada amid rising COVID-19 cases.

But 2022 saw demand return. In September, for example, six million passengers flew somewhere. That represented 86.6 per cent of pre-pandemic levels from September 2019.

However, that influx of demand on the airline industry still rebounding from pandemic measures caused headline-grabbing travel issues.

Demand for flights increased by 280 per cent between February and June this year, said transportation minister Omar Alghabra at a press conference on Nov. 28.

"I won't deny that there were very frustrating moments and episodes that was frustrating for passengers, that was frustrating for airlines, that was frustrating for our government, and there were a lot of lessons learned," he told reporters in Ottawa.

Poor staffing levels, inflation, and revenue loss also contributed to the delays, he said.

Alghabra spoke after he convened a summit with the air travel industry on Nov. 24 to discuss travel issues ahead of the winter holiday season.

He said the federal government is working on strengthening the passenger bill of rights and engaging in discussions around modernizing the security screening process.

But the minister warned in a phone call with The Canadian Press at the end of November that any changes would not be in place in time for the winter travel season.