Alghabra vows to reform passenger rights regulations, announces $76M to address traveller complaints

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Tuesday he’s planning to close a loophole in air passenger protections that allows airlines to deny travellers compensation in certain instances. He also announced nearly $76 million to help deal with the massive backlog of air passenger complaints.

Thousands of Canadians had their travel plans disrupted over the winter holidays, with many left stranded at various airports, and others saying there was little to no communication from airlines, forcing them to scramble to make plans.

For flight delay compensation in Canada, airlines are obligated to compensate passengers for cancellations or delays within their control, except when there are safety concerns — for example a mechanical malfunction — in which case they must try to rebook or refund customers, but do not have to compensate them for the inconvenience.

Alghabra told reporters Tuesday there are plans to table legislation in the spring to make further changes to the air passenger rights regime — first passed in 2019 and updated last September — to close the loophole and prevent airlines from claiming safety concerns to avoid compensating passengers.

“We are working on strengthening and clarifying the rules to ensure that we make a distinction,” Alghabra said. “Obviously we don't want planes to fly when it's unsafe to do so, but there are certain things that are within the control of the airlines, and we need to have clear rules that put the responsibility on the airlines when it's their responsibility.”

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At an emergency House of Commons committee meeting in January, airline executives laid the holiday season delays largely at the feet of extreme weather, while Alghabra testified at the time about what he considered to be "unacceptable" passenger treatment, telling MPs that protocols "clearly" need to be reviewed.

“The events of the past few months have resulted in a record number of complaints to the [Canadian Transportation Agency], and these complaints must be answered as quickly as possible,” Alghabra told reporters Tuesday.

Long wait times and mass cancellations also plagued Canadian travellers over the summer months, and by the time the winter holiday season came and went, the passenger rights complaints backlog had ballooned to more than 36,000.

While complaints to the CTA are meant to be a last resort, the agency reported that 6,395 were filed between late December and mid-January.

Alghabra said the “huge” backlog is now at more than 42,000 complaints. According to the CTA, the agency has received more than 39,000 complaints in the last year alone.

Alghabra told CTV’s Power Play host Vassy Kapelos in an interview Tuesday the average number of complaints to the CTA spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, culminating last summer and over the winter holidays, to become the “avalanche” it is now.

And now, the federal Liberals are handing over millions to help address the issue.

The new funding — which will be distributed over three years — is aimed at bolstering CTA resources to deal with the backlog, namely by hiring 200 additional staff to work through the complaints.

Alghabra said while the backlog won’t be eliminated “overnight,” the new funds will help process complaints more quickly, and he expects the added resources will more than double the CTA’s current capacity to deal with complaints.

“I want Canadians to feel confident that we're taking action that the CTA is doing whatever they can to process these complaints as quickly as possible,” Alghabra said, when pressed by reporters on whether the new funds will actually eliminate the backlog, and why travellers should trust the government to fix the problem.

He said his government earmarked $11 million last year to reduce the backlog, but that the current level of complaints is too large, and now there’s “an opportunity here to fundamentally reform the system so passengers are better protected, but also the process of complaints are dealt with more efficiently.”

“Obviously, I can't control at what speed the legislation that we introduce will pass,” Alghabra added, when asked whether Canadians can feel confident booking summer travel this year.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters Tuesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “should be accountable for the terrible treatment that our passengers are getting under his watch.”

He also said Trudeau should push for more competition in the airline industry, and that he should ensure complaints are handled and penalties handed out more quickly.

With files from CTVNews.ca’s Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello and The Canadian Press