As of July 15, Canadian travelers will finally be able to be properly compensated for delayed, canceled or oversold flights

The long-awaited passenger charter put in place by the Federal Minister of Transport as part of the Air Passenger Protection Regulation will soon come into force. According to Minister Marc Garneau, “Air passengers deserve a fair and balanced approach to passenger rights. These regulations put in place clear, consistent, transparent and fair processing standards,” he said in a news brief revealing the Canadian Transportation Agency’s final regulations. ” This will be done in two stages with a first phase starting on July 15th, the second phase will be on December 15th, 2019. As of July 15, airlines will have to meet new requirements regarding their communications, air traffic delays, denied boarding, lost or damaged baggage.

Here are details of the new requirements for airlines:

• Communicate clear and simple information to passengers about their rights and remedies, as well as regular updates in the event of flight delays or cancellations;
• Providing compensation of up to $ 2,100 for lost or damaged baggage and reimbursement of baggage fees paid;
• Establish clear policies for the transportation of musical instruments. Grant compensation of up to $ 2,400 for denied boarding and passenger travel for a reason attributable to the airline;
• Ensure that passenger handling standards are met during all delays on the apron and allow passengers to leave the aircraft, when it is safe to do so, if a delay on the apron lasts more than three hours and an imminent takeoff is unlikely. In this case, the expected damages vary according to the delays incurred on the total time of the itinerary of a traveler:

0 to 6 hours: $ 900

6 to 9 hours: $ 1800

9 hours and over: $ 2400

Other requirements, considered a little more “complex”, will only be implemented from December 15, 2019. This will mainly concern delays and cancellations of flights, the companies will then:

• Provide compensation of up to $ 1,000 in the event of flight delays or cancellations for reasons attributable to the airline and not related to security;
• Reimburse passengers or change their reservations when their flights are delayed, including, in some cases, using a competing airline to get to their destination;
• Provide food, beverages and accommodation to passengers when their flights are delayed;
• Facilitate the allocation of seats to children under 14 years of age in the vicinity of an accompanying adult, at no additional cost.

This long-awaited new regulation will soon protect all Canadian travelers and will apply to all airlines flying to or from Canada as well as within the country. One of the major changes to this new regulation is that travelers will now have to go directly to the airlines (and no longer to the Canadian Transportation Agency) for any complaints. Any traveler who has bought his ticket through a travel agency must also contact the airline directly, but can always count on the support and support of his travel agency in case of difficulties. A new reform that will make life easier for travelers and travel professionals.

For any additional questions, contact your travel architect.