Airline delays, overbooking, tarmac holds: Why it can suck to fly in Canada (Marketplace)

[Music] Travel nightmares or a fight was casta this morning with basically no notice delayed canceled stranded will a passenger Bill of Rights always protect you supposed to be a passenger Chaka then make it for the passengers Canada versus Europe you'd been on the same plane leaving from Europe they would owe you hundreds of dollars that's we're chasing the people with power if an airline isn't find when they break the rules then why should they follow the rules it's fight or flight time this is your marketplace at the Toronto Airport I'm checking in to check up on airlines passenger complaints are on the rise in Canada so we want to test your rights on flights [Music] what's your biggest beef when flying delays that are late a lot yeah luggage lost luggage no matter the airline it seems everyone's had problems have you ever been delays on a flight yes what how long power hours you ever get to flight delays yes about 40% 40% of the time long delays are a big beat just ask Chris Conrad I'm tired and frustrated and I just want to get going that's how Chris felt when her European vacation was delayed by nearly a day she says they didn't board until 1:00 in the morning and still there's more delay more delay and we sat around we sat around and it was a really old rickety kind of plane and when they tried to close the door it wouldn't close properly and then we sat there for a while and then they taxied out a bit and then they taxied back again they said oh the original plane was broken so we had to get this other old plane in and they put a new engine in it and now the engine isn't working so they were trying to fix that that cost three more hours that's a long time it is yeah mr. mango one mr. crazy hungry and I was fired I was thirsty and I just wanted to go home Air Canada does send her home in a taxi after an overnight delay her flight is canceled and she's booked to fly the following night total delay 22 hours they should have their planes in a good working order they me of an entire day of my vacation I didn't sleep for 48 hours I think they owe me at least half of my airfare back so she asks for it and what did Air Canada give you in the way of compensation they offered me 25% off an undiscounted base fare how much is that well take away all the extra fees and the base fare is just three hundred and twenty nine dollars twenty five percent off dot eighty two dollars and twenty five cents not good enough for Chris it's like a slap in the face really you know it's like they don't they don't care but they don't actually owe her anything under the existing rules travelers like Chris have no clear right to compensation from any Canadian airline but there might be hope in the future because the rules could be changing Minister of Transport Marc Garneau were here to make sure that passenger rights are respected last spring he announced a passenger Bill of Rights when Canadians buy an airline ticket they expect the airline to keep its part of the deal he promises it will make things better how much better that's what we intend to find out we're at the Halifax Airport to meet a guy who knows all about the new rules shall we go chat sure passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs he fights for disrupted air travelers seeking justice from any airline in the case of Chris Wood the new bill mean that she would get compensation under new bill she would not get compensation either the bill exonerates Airlines from the obligation to compensate passengers when the delay is caused by mechanical issues mechanical problems are a common reason for delays and cancellations but here's the thing even under Minister Garneau new rules passengers like Chris won't get compensation and lukkage says that's wrong airline should be liable for compass any passengers in the event of cancellation delay or over booking that is somehow caused by mechanical issues that's a no-brainer that it has been the rule in Europe and I don't see why it should be any different in Canada so what are those European rules to find out we've come to England travelers here have had a passenger Bill of Rights since 2005 they're entitled to compensation when things go wrong even when most mechanical issues are to blame [Music] but here's the thing many people don't know it was a fight to get those rights so we're heading to the north of England to meet the man behind that fight [Music] thank you i'm david kobe benson calls himself a flight delay lawyer all right quite a few people here that's right we have a team of about twenty people his firm's built a business out of flight disruptions helping clients get the compensation they're entitled to there's tens of thousands of people every single year who have had that claims denied by the airlines they come to us and one precedent-setting case put them on the map when a european carrier used mechanical malfunction as a reason to deny a claim kobe took it to court the airlines legal argument didn't fly the real legal test as confirmed by the court was whether it's out of the ordinary and quite simply the courts said that these technical problems are not out to the ordinary for an airline to avoid paying they have to prove the reason for disruption was extraordinary thankfully we was successful in arguing that most technical problems are not extraordinary and therefore the islands have to pay out for them it was a great victory for us it was an enormous battle against a very large airline so now as a result anyone flying on a European airline can claim for most flight disruptions even Canadian airlines have to follow the same rules when flying out of Europe so how would that affect Chris's twenty two hour delay if you're flying from Europe to Canada it wouldn't have mattered which airline she was on she would have been covered under European law even though she's not a European citizen and then she would have been entitled to 600 euro zone 600 euros it's about 900 dollars Canadian it's a lot of money that's right it's a lot of money and a passenger only needs to have been delayed three or maybe four hours in order to get that large sum of money we break that news to Chris if you'd been on the same plane leaving from Europe they would owe you hundreds of dollars yeah that's that's really annoying it's it's not fair do you have any words of advice for Canadian passengers if they're flying to to Europe make sure you're flying with the European carrier and you'll be protected under the very strong and pro-consumer European law Europeans have become used to the protection but don't always realize that not everyone has it in Canada we don't have those kind of girls yeah okay that surprise you at all it does yeah because I kind of think of Canada as a very sort of consumer rights kind of kind of society so what circumstances will they have to compensate passengers if it's not mechanical or weather then what else is left what say you Canadian government is supposed to be a passenger charter then make it better passengers I don't want to leave what because we will fail blah hey will you sure okay so there you go we in Canada I they should have a revolution or a strike to get these rights gabor Lukacs is fighting for those rights in Parliament for the all-too-common event of mechanical malfunction the bill proposes to actually relieve Airlines from the obligation to compensate passengers for inconvenience he's invited to share his concerns with a House of Commons committee that's reviewing the bill we recommend that the committee amendment 11 sub 1 sub B to clarify that in the event of mechanical malfunctions airlines are liable to compensate passengers for their inconvenience it's going to be an uphill fight for Lukacs but these passengers are on his side I mean they really should change it it holds them accountable as an airline right do you think you should be entitled to compensation absolutely yeah definitely not in the best interests of customers and fliers time to get some answers from Marc Garneau the man behind the bill as it stands now the bill does not require airlines to compensate passengers in the event of mechanical malfunction why is that well what we have decided to do in some cases if there is a an operational delay in a flight for example because the flight crew was not there to fly it or the airline made a change for operational reasons to maximize their their traffic flow if they cancel the flight because it wasn't compensation there because that's something that is within their control is not a mechanical problem but why is mechanical not within their control we do consider it to be within their control but for safety reasons of course we don't want them to take off if there is a problem in Europe they don't have to choose between safety and compensation they get both we're putting together our own bill of rights I think you're gonna see that we have a world-leading class or category of compensations let me put it to you this way if you and I get on a plane mm-hm and fly to anywhere in Europe if there is a delay a big delay from a mechanical malfunction on our way back from Europe we do get compensation why should we as air passengers be treated differently depending on which direction we're flying from I think that we have to yes compensate passengers for certain things but at the same time we want to make sure that that our airlines can remain competitive so they keep prices as low as possible some people feel that airlines have more protection than passengers I believe that this is very balanced and that we are seriously addressing the rights of passengers but it is not enough for this passenger well it makes me wonder whose side the government is on there's no incentive for them to even have their planes on time now if they had to pay everybody compensation every time their planes were delayed or I think that would make them pull their socks up a bit Benson agrees that the rules are a good deterrent the European rules have encouraged punctuality of balance to the law has acted as a really good mechanism to ensure that the airlines are operating efficiently and on time how this man took on a major airline and won it wasn't about the money for me it was a boat's just bringing this to light should a passenger have to go to court to get something that they actually deserve under the existing rule fighting for your flight rights continues only on your marketplace it's fight or flight time [Music] or a flight was canceled this morning with basically no notice no matter the airline your frustrations with flying our sky Han has to be something that can make some processes like this a little easier a little better it can be a long fight to get the right compensation from Airlines most of us just give up [Music] but not this guy he took on Air Canada and one hey Dan hi David in Fall River Nova Scotia Dan LaShawn says battle began after a cross-country journey to white warts involving three connecting flights so when I got to Vancouver and boarded the flight for Whitehorse and we were just about to take off we were seated and belted in and then I was asked to deplane because it was another passenger that had been ticketed for that seat and they come to you and say you got to get off yes that's exactly what happened it was a shocker it was a shocker Dan was booked on the next flight which meant a delay of nine hours I was not happy with the situation and I wouldn't arrive there as a trend until after midnight but he does have rights Air Canada's own rules say that passengers who are bumped off a flight and then substantially delayed get eight hundred bucks compensation did you get that $800 Dan emails Air Canada asking for the money and receives this reply and essentially says that they sometimes have to deny boarding and so as a result they would offer a 15% off the base fare of my next booking at Air Canada comm he refuses the discount and takes Air Canada to small claims court that sure gets their full attention they offer to settle they say here's the money right but at the same time in the same letter along with that offer is a declaration that there's no admission of any wrongdoing on Air Canada's part that was the trigger it wasn't about the money for me it was about just bringing this to light and so he gets his day in court but the airline still won't back down the big responsibility Canada was that I wasn't on the flights that I said I was on the airline says their computer showed Dan missed a connection so they gave away his seat to Whitehorse but he made all his flights and he could prove it because I receipts that put me there to prove that I was there in this case in Vancouver I was there for hours prior to the boarding of that flight at the gate literally hours what happened eventually we want dan gets the money and his court costs - yeah that was a good moment the adjudicator essentially said that Eric Canada wasn't following its own tariffs wasn't treating its customers with respect until they were actually forced by the hand essentially to do so but you didn't win this case because they didn't show you respect you won because Eric Canada didn't follow their own rules yes yeah it's all about just following the rules that are posted there and not trying to get out of it but it's not just Air Canada other airlines have also fought back against passenger claims so how do we know carriers will always follow the new rules we tell Minister of Marc Garneau about Dan's battle should a passenger have to go to court to get something that they actually deserve under the existing rules normally that should not happen I don't expect passengers going to court I think the rules will be very clear and I have the feeling that the airlines are going to cooperate will you hold Airlines accountable if they break the rules absolutely and that has always been the case and and the Canadian transportation agency which is a semi judicial body has the power to impose penalties Canadian transportation agency has failed its mandate it has abdicated its mandate to enforce the law passenger rights advocate Gabor lukacs has lost faith in the regulator he doesn't believe the CTA will crack down from my perspective we can have the best possible rules and laws that you can imagine if they are not being enforced they're all futile he worries airlines might not pay up because the CTA hasn't been dishing out fines how many times have you seen in the past several years when an airline has been found to break their own tariffs how many times have they even find anything never I know at once we checked that he's right at the time of this interview not even one fine in the last five years for breaking their own rules we take that to the minister if an airline isn't fined when they break the rules then why should they follow the rules if all they have to do is pay the money they would have paid anyway to passengers under their tariffs well they will have to pay compensation if they violated a passengers rights so that is a penalty that they will have to pay if they refuse to do that then they can be fined by the CTA and I'm fully confident too confident that the CTA will exercise that power even though they haven't used the power to fine over the past five years we're talking about what's ahead of us now funny enough a week after our interview the CTA announces a huge fine for Air Transat over this what is this change for your flight rights so it's increasing the amount of time that I should be stuck on the tarmac it is mind-boggling why it makes no sense to me the fight for your flight rights continues the real deal on your marketplace new passenger rights are getting ready for takeoff they'll offer you better protections including banning all airlines from bumping people off a plane against their will like the shocking example of this man being dragged off a United Airlines flight and in Canada remember those Air Transat passengers stuck on the tarmac for six hours they already had rights quite the ordeal as a result the airline gets that fine nearly three hundred thousand dollars why it broke the rules how do the existing rules passengers on Canadian airlines are entitled to refreshments and the opportunity to get off if they've been stuck on the tarmac for 90 minutes or more so long as it's safe but under the proposed legislation that time would extend to three hours for all airlines doubling it from just the 90 minutes consumer advocate Gabor Lukacs tried to fight that - so it's increasing the amount of time that I should be stuck on the tarmac for it is my bugling why it makes no sense to me Minister of Transport Marc Garneau is sponsoring the bill the buck stops with him why is three hours that right amount of time can we've we've looked at other countries and and that is fairly widely accepted norm but if we look in this country right now the protocol of many airlines is 90 minutes instead we're doubling it when we do the regulation only certain airlines have it and it is for the big ones it's an internal rule that they have in in their in their contract of course if an airline wants to continue to offer that we can do that what if passengers think of the proposed change from ninety minutes to three hours what do you think of that that's way too long to be stuck on a tarmac I'm not a fan I got two kids under kit under queue and that would be chaos I would go stir-crazy you're you're begging to get off that plane after two hours well okay that doesn't happen to you today have a good flight Barry now jinx me when you take a look at some of the things that we're talking about do you think there is anything that you would change now I am absolutely positive the Canadians will be very pleased with his fill of Rights when they see it and I would ask Canadians to be patient they'll see it in 2018 and they'll be very satisfied with it and this is something that will be world leading in terms of rights compared to other countries but the bill is not law yet it's still being debated in the Senate maybe they'll listen to passengers and advocates what do you think send us your thoughts and we'll keep watching [Music] it's a cross-border price war work buying for baby all fun and games until we check the price tags a hundred and nineteen ninety-nine either you are Canadians getting gouged on your next marketplace [Music]

Channel: CBC News

Views: 330,519

Rating: 4.8294649 out of 5

Keywords: Airline delays, overbooking, tarmac holds, suck to fly in Canada, MInister of transport, Marc Garneau, promised, air passenger, bill of rights, protection

Id: _ySHsQ2nMUw

Length: 22min 26sec (1346 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 01 2017