by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:00 AM ET, Tue April 25, 2023
The Canadian
government is considering a new law that would make airlines responsible for
compensating passengers for most major service disruptions.
According to Reuters.com,
Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said a rise in delays and
cancellations has increased complaints, prompting the government to propose the
new legislation.
As part of the proposal, airlines serving Canadian cities that
experience major flight disruptions would be required to compensate impacted passengers
unless the company can prove the issue was beyond its control, such as snow storms.
“This means there will be no more loopholes where airlines
can claim a disruption is caused by something outside of their control or a
security reason when it is not,” Alghabra told Reuters.
“It will no longer be the passenger who will have to prove
that he or she is entitled to compensation,” Alghabra continued. “It will now
be the airline that will need to prove that it does not have to pay for it.”
With the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) reporting a
record-high number of complaints—more than 44,000—the legislation would call
for airlines to pay a fee if the issues are not resolved before being reported
to the tribunal.
As for when the possible changes could take effect, Alghabra
said travelers could begin seeing them “by the end of summer,” but others would
take longer to start enforcing.
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