Geoflying

According to this story on the CBC WS not only proactively offered EU261 compensation, but actually sent twice the required amount

Does anyone have experience of AC proactively offering this compensation?

jc94

No.

KLM is the only airline to ever proactively offer me compensation.
Which was €50 for broken IFE on a 12h flight. They gave it to all pax.

AC's reaction to "my IFE is broken" was a) I'll reboot it and b) no there are no other seats.

And specific to EU261 ... No. I think I got $15 for food for a 17h delay.
But that was when I was younger and more innocent and didn't know better. The point is, nothing was offered.

YXEGeordie

I got the full 600 Euros recently. AC did not offer it, they only offered me a 10% voucher, but responded to my request for the EU261 compensation very pleasantly and provided me with a cheque after about 3 weeks.

Jumper Jack

Did you accept the 10% voucher?
Also does accepting the voucher waive your ability to request EU261 comp?

YXEGeordie

Hi

I was given a form to fill in to get the 10%, i haven't filled in the form so didn't get it.

I am not sure about whether accepting the 10% would invalidate any EU261 claim. Anyone on here have experience of this?

YXEG

flyquiet

IME AC played dumb about EU261. Definitely not proactive. They sent "as an exception" a cheque for less and the endorsement box included a statement waiving any further claims. Only when I asked for explanation of the difference to EU261 and stated I was not signing the endorsement did the rest of the reimbursement come. I would imagine the 10% would have similar strings attached.

Transpacificflyer

My experience with AC has been that the company;
i) Has never reached out to me to apologize or offer anything after a serious flight disruption (e.g. mechanical breakdown, cancellation etc.)
ii) Has never offered any compensation when my seat was broken or headphones inoperable or food unavailable etc. on a J class long haul.
iii) Has never ever apologized for an error on its own.

I have always had to write in and provide a detailed statement of displeasure in respect to the Air Canada approach. The largest compensation offered was a 15% discount on a base fare following an exceptionally poor management of an aircraft breakdown in Asia. I once received a piece of paper after I was splashed with deicing fluid at my exit door seat. (Old Dash aircraft they used to use the first time they serviced the Island airport in TO. Fluid sprayed right through the door seals.) I never used the document as I was young and couldn't be bothered.

The one time I had a weather delay flying with West Jet, I received a 10% discount available for any West Jet flight along with a lengthy apology. The airline sent it out without me saying anything. Speaks volumes doesn't it? West jet: $400+ fare YYZ-YUL and I get consideration and a proactive email versus Air Canada's $5,000+ premium class fare YYZ-TYO and I get ignored and then sometime later a response that is insulting because of its dishonesty along with discount code as a "favour" .

rankourabu

They play dumb and don't even acknowledge it exists at the airport.

Why should they, the claim rate must be very low that way.

They however have been very good at sending money once requested, no push back whatsoever. Unlike BA which hasn't even acknowledged the request in 6 weeks.

D404

Very interesting; I've had the opposite experience. AC took absolutely forever to even respond, but BA responded and paid in under a week or two.

Everyone's experiences are consistently inconsistent.

Often1

Not surprising. A recent study suggests that less than 2% of eligible EC 261/2004 claims are even filed. There are no penalties for not proactively paying, so it is to the air carrier's significant financial detriment to simply offer the payment.

djjaguar64

Why would AC voluntarily educate passengers about their rights? They would prefer no one knows about EU rules for delayed and cancelled flights.

cur

because eu261 mandates that they inform pax of their rights: with signage at check in and handouts to pax in the event of any delay

the ws case involves the airline emailing uk-origin pax after the fact....this doesn't seem to be the case with can-origin pax who were delayed ex uk, and my guess is that they're emailing because they reportedly were not handing out the pieces of paper at lgw

there are no penalties because this is not legally required

eu261 mandates that you get paid out in liquid cash, unless both parties agree to something else

taking a discount on itself does not invalidate your entitlement to cash

however i assume that the form has some fine print/tcs saying that you're perfectly fine taking a handful of rice in lieu of 600 euro "you accept this discount code that you can get from any ac employee for free just by asking them in lieu of your eu261 rights"

eigenvector

In my industry, you comply with government regulations proactively. In fact, in addition to being subject to routine and thorough audits for compliance, you need to demonstrate that you have sufficient internal controls to prevent violations from occurring in the first place.

A responsible and ethical approach by any airline subject to EU261 would be to implement very basic software identifying all instances where compensation is payable, and contact pax with an offer for compensation except in instances where contact info isn't available (TA bookings, etc.).

What AC is doing is deliberate non-compliance. They know they owe the money, but won't acknowledge it until it is demanded. Even if pax write in for compensation, they won't pay unless EU261 is specifically mentioned. It may not be illegal, but it's morally reprehensible. It's no different than a shopkeeper realising that someone accidentally handed them too much cash, but not acknowledging it unless the person comes back and asks for it. If a person did this we'd call them dishonest, a cheater. But a big corporation does it and their CEO will probably get a medal from the government when he retires for "contributions to Canadian society".

Gross.

kwflyer

But maybe not to their brand

rankourabu

I am confused, you really expected differently from Air Canada? Really?

You know they re not a charity , right?