27 MAY 2019: Long-promised rules meant to help frustrated Canadian air passengers will arrive in two phases.  Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport announced on Friday that the first phase of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations would take effect on July 15, 2019. The more complex requirements related to flight delays and cancellations will come into force on December 15, 2019.

The Transportation Modernization Act, which received Royal Assent in May 2018, mandated the Agency to develop regulations for air travellers that would be clear, consistent, transparent and fair.

The new regulations apply to all air carriers flying to, from and within Canada, each of which must proactively offer standards of treatment.

Carriers will be required to issue compensation to passengers within strict timelines, without passengers having to complain to the Canadian Transportation Agency. Recourse would be first dealt directly with the airline. Air carriers will be required to follow these regulations and could face fines of up to $25,000 per incident of non-compliance.

Starting July 15, passengers will have to be compensated up to $2,400 if they are denied boarding because a flight was overbooked, and receive up to $2,100 for lost or damaged luggage.

Air travellers will have to wait until mid-December for rules requiring airlines to seat parents beside or near their children at no extra cost, as well as compensation for flight delays and cancellations within an airline’s control.

Garneau said addressing cancellations was “more complex,” requiring a longer runway so airlines can draw up and implement new policies.

Ian Jack, managing director of government relations with the Canadian Automobile Association, suggested that a six-month lag before most of the rules come into effect is disappointing. “We think that could have happened a lot earlier.”

Yet, for the industry, the timelines were “ridiculous” in light of the need for more training and new software, said John McKenna, who heads the Air Transport Association of Canada.

New rules will require airlines to provide updates, and to return planes to gates and let people off if delays reach three hours. But a 45-minute extension is allowed if there is an “imminent” possibility a late plane will take off.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is very positive. A number of captains told me first-hand they had to go back to the gate only to find out 20 minutes later that the window had just opened,” said Massimo Bergamini, chief executive of the National Airlines Council of Canada lobby group, which represents Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat and Jazz Aviation.

The rules impose no obligation on airlines to pay customers for delays or cancellations if they were caused by mechanical problems discovered in a pre-flight check, rather than during scheduled maintenance. The number of issues categorized as outside an airline’s control amount to a long list of ways to avoid compensating passengers, said Christian Nielsen, chief legal officer of AirHelp, a Berlin-based passenger-rights company,

“When you add to that list that pretty much all technical problems are also outside an airline’s control, I’m beginning to wonder what is within the airline’s control,” Nielsen said. “Is it a drunk pilot, or the crew being late?”

Other consumer-rights advocates argue the criteria for monetary compensation are extremely tough to meet, requiring passengers to present evidence that is typically in the hands of an airline. Gabor Lukacs, founder of the group Air Passenger Rights, said the regulations provide airlines “carte-blanche to refuse paying compensation” based on unverifiable maintenance issues.

Garneau said it was “preposterous” that airlines would make up a maintenance problem to avoid compensating some passengers, noting the tight reporting regulations the industry must follow.

The new regulations also take into account the realities of small and northern air carriers, as well as ultra-low cost carriers, with requirements adjusted accordingly.

The Canadian Transportation Agency‘s final regulations are available now on their website.