Recently, the Canadian government has mandated compensation for delays and cancellations. While not including mechanical delays or weather delays, it does include staffing issues etc. The compensation amounts vary based on the size of the airline, and the amount of delay. My flight from Toronto was cancelled, and the next available flight was the following day, and so am receiving $1000 CAD in compensation.

With Europe, and now Canada enacting these passenger rights in legislation, would this ever happen in New Zealand? I've been on cancelled Jetstar flights without so much as a sorry, and delayed easily over 24 hours. Why aren't we demanding the same sort of passenger rights in New Zealand? Yes, this programme has a cost. Yet, the European market seems to still be competitive in spite of this cost.