Transport minister says Ottawa looking into strengthening passenger rights regulations after Sunwing blunders

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the federal government is wanting 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 had been closely impacted by extreme climate, with technical points leaving workers scattered and prospects omitted of the loop relating to flight delays or reschedulings, some left in the dead of night for days on how they had been going to get residence.

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

Alghabra mentioned he expressed to him that Canadians anticipate 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 wish 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 residence to Prince Albert, which was cancelled the morning they had been meant to fly, was going to be rescheduled. They finally had to purchase their very own new airplane tickets residence by way of WestJet, as no Sunwing representatives had been offered to provide them a manner residence.

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 typical 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 had been just lately 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 had 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 example, 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 accountable for baggage, and one facet that he’s now wanting into is clarifying guidelines about airways’ duties relating to baggage, Alghabra added.

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

With information from Olivia Bowden