(Montreal) Air Canada has rejected claims for compensation from some travelers who were among the thousands of people affected by flight delays due to computer malfunctions in recent weeks – a response it now describes as “erroneous” and is ensuring that cash offers are in preparation.
In communications to some customers, the airline initially stated that the computer problem was beyond its control, freeing it from its obligation to pay compensation.
“In this case, the compensation you are requesting will not apply, as the disruption was caused by an event beyond our control. “This flight has been delayed due to an unforeseen technical issue affecting one of our suppliers and in turn affecting our business,” the airline said in an email to passenger Douglas Judson on Thursday.
Douglas Judson claims his flight on the 1st arrived at his destination more than three hours lateum June between Winnipeg and Toronto was delayed due to a computer problem.
“I find the dishonesty and disrespect of all of this extremely annoying,” he lamented in a phone interview.
“Air Canada has some really interesting contortions of logic when it comes to whether something is actually their fault. »
While Air Canada denied his claim for damages, he offered Mr Judson a 15% discount on all future flights, in what the airline saw as a “goodwill gesture”.
The Montreal-based company was contacted by The Canadian Press on Friday and said the response was due to an error.
“Air Canada is providing compensation in line with Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) compensation levels for flights affected by the computer outage. “Some passengers had received incorrect answers from us and we are in the process of contacting them again with the correct answer,” spokeswoman Angela Mah said.
Closing gaps in the current set of rules
The country’s largest mobile operator has been struggling with intermittent computer problems for the past 15 days.
On May 25, it delayed more than half of its flights due to a “technical issue” with the system the airline uses to communicate with planes and monitor their performance. 1um In June, it delayed or canceled more than 500 flights — more than three-quarters of its trips that day, according to tracking service FlightAware — due to “computer glitches.”
On the same day, Transport Secretary Omar Alghabra said Air Canada had obligations to affected passengers.
“Air Canada has obligations to passengers who are impacted because the cause is due to things over which the airline has control,” he told reporters May 1.um June, hours after computer problems reappeared.
In April, Minister Alghabra introduced measures to increase penalties and fill gaps in passenger compensation as part of a planned overhaul of Canada’s Passenger Bill of Rights.
If the reforms are passed as part of the budget law, airlines will have to prove that a flight disruption was caused by safety problems or reasons beyond their control. The Canadian Transportation Agency will establish specific examples of exemptions from compensation.
“It will no longer be the passenger who has to prove they are entitled to compensation. It will now be the airline that has to show they don’t have to pay,” Mr Alghabra said on April 24.
Currently, a passenger is entitled to compensation ranging from $125 to $1,000 for a delay of more than three hours or a cancellation within 14 days of scheduled departure, unless the disruption is due to events beyond our control of the airline, such as B. Weather conditions or a safety issue, including mechanical issues. The amount varies depending on the size of the carrier and the length of the delay.
Extreme problem solver. Professional web practitioner. Devoted pop culture enthusiast. Evil tv fan.
;Composite=(type=URL,url=https://images.radio-canada.ca/v1/assets/elements/16x9/outdated-content-2021.png),gravity=SouthEast,placement=Over,location=(0,0),scale=1)
