Campbell River man faces 18-month wait for decision on flight delay compensation
Posted: Feb. 3, 2023 3:26PMWhen Gord Gyles filed with WestJet for compensation following a flight delay, he didn’t realize that he had set on a process that would take at least 18 months for him to receive a decision.
Airlines are required to provide up to $1,000 in compensation for passengers if a flight is delayed for mechanical reasons, and Gyles says his situation should fall under that since a mechanical issue resulted in his flight not being able to take off.
After WestJet denied his claim, Gyles chose to file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency , which is an independent body that overhears complaints between air, rail, and marine passengers and transportation providers. “About three per cent of complaints are not resolved in facilitation, they proceed to a formal adjudication phase, in which the agency acting as a tribunal weighs the evidence presented by both sides and issues a legally binding decision,” Oommen said. “We do currently have a backlog of about 37,000 complaints.”
“The Canadian Transportation Agency has the power and the tools, in theory, necessary for enforcing passengers’ rights, but they’re not doing their job. They have a huge backlog on top of that and they’re not fining airlines either,” Lukács said. “It’s very important to issue those fines and would be very important to ensure that there is real compliance with the law and airlines don’t treat the law as a mere recommendation that depends on their mood whether they want to comply.
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