Snow brought Vancouver flights to a halt Tuesday. What’s next for passengers? | 24CA News

Unusually heavy snowfall — as much as 27 centimetres by 4 p.m. Tuesday — throughout the southern a part of British Columbia introduced the Vancouver International Airport to a screeching halt Tuesday morning.

At 7:30 a.m., all flights from YVR have been suspended, and nearly all of outgoing flights have been both cancelled or delayed all through the day.

In a launch, WestJet says there have been 210 cancellations on Tuesday, primarily as a consequence of disruptions in Vancouver and frigid temperatures in Calgary and Edmonton. There have been additionally 146 flight cancellations on Monday and 104 on Sunday.

Passengers reported every kind of horror tales: being stranded on the airport, ready on the tarmac for as much as 12 hours, or sleeping on a baggage carousel.

Now for many who are caught, anxiously ready to see if they will be capable of get to pals and households over the vacations: what’s subsequent? 

In an e-mail, YVR spokesperson Megan Sutton stated passengers ought to examine their flight standing instantly with their airline.

“We are asking people to please not come to YVR if you do not absolutely need to,” she stated.

Duncan Dee, former chief working officer for Air Canada, stated the climate and full operational shutdown Tuesday morning do not bode nicely for travellers.

“For people who have delayed or cancelled flights at this point in time, the chances of them getting to their destination from Vancouver anywhere east is very slim,” he stated in an interview.

“So if they haven’t already travelled, if they were impacted by the delays and cancellations, airlines will very unlikely have seats to put them on to get them where they need to go by Christmas.”

Airlines to rebook flights inside 48 hours

According to new Canadian rules that got here into impact Sept. 8, airways should strive to rebook cancelled flights inside 48 hours.

Even if the cancellations are as a consequence of causes outdoors of the corporate’s management — on this case, heavy snowfall — anybody who is not put on a brand new flight inside two days is entitled to a refund or new journey preparations at no extra price.

The new guidelines are an extension of stricter air passenger rights laid out by the federal authorities in 2019.

According to the Canadian Transportation Agency, a quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator tasked with implementing the rules and settling disputes between airways and clients, within the occasion of delays or cancellations, airways should: 

• Communicate key info.
• Provide help.
• Offer alternate journey preparations or a refund.
• Pay compensation for the inconvenience.

Passengers are supposed to be given a transparent rationalization for the disruption and updates a minimum of each half-hour, till a brand new departure time or flight association has been decided.

Airlines are additionally required to supply an inexpensive quantity of free meals and drinks whereas passengers are ready.

The CTA says giant airways should e-book passengers on the following accessible flight they’re working, or a flight by an airline they’ve a industrial settlement with.

The new flight has to take an inexpensive route from the airport to the passenger’s vacation spot, and depart inside 48 hours of the occasion that triggered the delay or cancellation.

Refunds required inside 30 days

If the airline cannot meet that obligation, it could pay out of pocket to place the passenger on an analogous flight operated by any airline, or pay for the passenger to be introduced to a different airport that has a flight going to their vacation spot.

The CTA says refunds cowl no matter portion of a ticket wasn’t used and go to the one that initially bought it.

Airlines can provide journey vouchers as a substitute, however provided that they do not expire, and if each events agree in writing to go for a voucher somewhat than a refund.

The airline has 30 days to pay out the passenger in money, credit score or journey vouchers.

When passengers are delayed to the purpose the place their ticket not serves its goal — say the date of an occasion they have been travelling for has already handed — the airline has to ship the passenger again to their level of origin without spending a dime and refund the complete ticket.

Passengers can file a declare for compensation as much as one yr from the date a flight was delayed or cancelled. The airline then has 30 days to reply, paying out what’s owed, or contesting the declare and explaining why it believes compensation is not due.

If flight plans have been disrupted and a passenger feels the airline hasn’t met its obligations or has unfairly denied compensation, the CTA recommends contacting the airline in writing.

If a passenger would not hear again inside 30 days or are nonetheless unhappy with the corporate’s rationalization, they can file a grievance with the regulatory company.

The CTA has known as the brand new guidelines a win for passengers, however some shopper advocates really feel they do not go far sufficient, and have stated the company must be stricter on airways and extra environment friendly in reviewing disputes and getting passengers paid out.

This previous summer time, the CTA was coping with a backlog of 18,200 complaints.