The minister has announced that the maximum fine for an airline violating the APPR will increase from $25,000 to $250,000. (Photo: The Canadian Press)
Ottawa — Transport Secretary Omar Alghabra pledges to impose tougher fines on airlines that cause travelers to undue delays and simplify the complaints process with proposed changes to the charter protecting passengers’ rights.
He unveiled changes Monday aimed at adding more bite to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), making offsets the “default” rule, he promised.
“The pandemic has shown that there were flaws in the regime,” Mr Alghabra said at the start of the press conference.
He said exemptions ensuring an airline does not have to pay compensation to travelers due to significant delays on their flight routes will be very limited.
Currently, for example, the APPR provides that airlines do not have to pay money if the delays are due to safety reasons.
The new list of exceptions has not yet been created and should be created after consultation.
As a first step, the proposed changes must be passed with Bill C−47 in order to implement measures from the 2022 budget.
The minister has announced that the maximum fine for an airline violating the APPR will increase from $25,000 to $250,000.
The promised changes also aim to address the processing time for complaints with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), which has accumulated a significant backlog.
Under the proposed changes, the CTA would no longer need to resolve these cases through arbitration and could essentially administer them internally.
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