Ottawa looking into strengthening passenger rights regulations after Sunwing blunders: minister

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the federal government is trying into additional strengthening passenger rights rules following air and prepare transportation chaos over the vacation season that noticed cancellations and delays have an effect on Canadians.

The Minister mentioned he met Sunwing’s president Len Corrado Thursday morning, who reiterated the apology the airline gave prospects after it left some prospects stranded at airports throughout the nation and outdoors of Canada.

In an interview with iHeartRadio Host Vassy Kapelos on Thursday, Alghabra additionally mentioned Sunwing lacked “slack” of their operation which led to “frustrating incidents” throughout the vacation journey, and that the shortage of communication from the airline to prospects was “unacceptable.”

Alghabra mentioned that he had met with Corrado earlier Thursday to debate the airline’s failings.

“I expressed to him the frustration that I felt on behalf of Canadians and I know many, many of their customers felt,” he mentioned. “And I posed many inquiries to him.

“There’s a lot of things that came together, unfortunately, at the same time, certainly driven by the extreme weather events that took place in two different parts of the country, and the ramification that had on the air sector, but I think Sunwing itself had its own operational issues that, unfortunately caused a lot of frustrations for many of their customers.”

In a press release Thursday, Sunwing apologized for flight disruptions which left flyers stranded over the winter holidays, however added that “most of our customers enjoyed their holidays with minimal disruption.”

The airline’s operations have been closely impacted by extreme climate, with technical points leaving workers scattered and prospects disregarded of the loop concerning flight delays or reschedulings, some left at nighttime for days on how they have been going to get house.

Corrado reiterated to Alghabra of their assembly that errors have been made, Alghabra mentioned.

Alghabra mentioned he expressed to him that Canadians count on a point of weather-related points when travelling throughout the holidays, however not one thing of this magnitude.

“Canadians understand that we live in Canada, and we have occasional extreme weather events that will have disruptions on the airline sector. But what seemed to be unacceptable was the lack of communication about when the recovery will take place, when the repatriation will take place, and certainly (Sunwing) left a lot of their customers in the dark, I think,” he mentioned.

He added that though he didn’t need to converse on behalf of Sunwing, his understanding is that “they had very little slack in their operation to accommodate that stress that extreme weather had caused, leading to those frustrating incidents.”

For some prospects, this meant being stranded in an unfamiliar metropolis or nation, unable to achieve anybody from Sunwing for solutions for days at a time.

One Saskatchewan household was caught in Calgary for every week ready to listen to from Sunwing about when their flight house to Prince Albert, which was cancelled the morning they have been meant to fly, was going to be rescheduled. They finally had to purchase their very own new airplane tickets house via WestJet, as no Sunwing representatives have been supplied to offer them a method house.

When requested about accountability, Alghabra deferred to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), stating that the federal government had put in place rules to guard passenger rights in 2019 and “empowered the Canadian Transportation Agency to uphold these rights, including fining violations by an airline operator.”

These rules set out clearer minimal airline necessities by way of the airline’s obligations to passengers when regarding communication, delayed or cancelled flights, denied boarding, tarmac delays, and misplaced or broken baggage, amongst different points.

Touted as a “world-leading” air passenger invoice of rights, it laid out a regular of remedy that included airways offering as much as $2,400 compensation to passengers who needed to be moved from an overbooked flight and as much as $2,100 for misplaced or broken baggage.

The rules have been not too long ago up to date in September so as to add “another layer of responsibility, even for unforeseen situations, where airlines should be refunding passengers, even because of weather,” Alghabra mentioned.

Previously, airways have been solely required to supply refund if a flight disruption was inside their management, however the brand new guidelines meant airways must present refunds or rebook flights even when the flight was disrupted by climate or outdoors circumstances.

“Now we’re looking at it further (to see) what else can we learn from this and to strengthen this system,” Alghabra mentioned.

“We have a system in place that protects rights, but I can tell you, we are currently looking at how we can make that system better.”

In a later interview with CTV New Channel on Thursday, Alghabra added that Sunwing was “committed to compensating passengers who were stranded,” and that this case, whereas regrettable, is an “opportunity for (the government) to clarify rules further to ensure airlines uphold these rights.”

He mentioned that he had met with different airways that skilled points over the vacations a few of which led to misplaced baggage and baggage piling up in airports.

Airlines are liable for baggage, and one side that he’s now trying into is clarifying guidelines about airways’ tasks concerning baggage, Alghabra added.

“That’s what we’re looking at,” he mentioned.

With recordsdata from Olivia Bowden