mkjr

See link...

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/serv.../Business/home

perhaps the practice of putting T fare pax on the top of the list to be bumped even though the tarrif says first to check in unless full J, Y or with a disability may stop.

Did not see this yet but merge if this is a duplicate.

mkjr

more details here

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../05/c9851.html

djjaguar64

How does this impact Air Canada's own insurance that they introduced, can't remember the name, for $25 you get a hotel and food etc. I guess it makes it null and void!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sebring

I guess not.

If you bother to read the proposed "Bill of Rights", I think it changes little for AC. It may force it to tighten up the access to timely delay info, but aside from that, it is so rife with weasel words and outright exclusions as to do little. Let's look at it point by poimnt.

1) Passengers have a right to information on flight times and schedule changes. Airlines must make reasonable efforts to inform passengers of delays and schedule changes and to the extent possible, the reason for the delay or change.

("make reasonable efforts"... A labor lawyer I negotiated union contracts with would never allow the word "reasonable" into a collective agreement because it is impossible to nail down. The airline can say it made a reasonable effort to communicate this information as soon as it had a definitive handle on things like maintenance issues, ATC delays, etc.)

2) Passengers have a right to take the flight they paid for. If the plane
is over-booked or cancelled, the airline must:
a) find the passenger a seat on another flight operated by that
airline;
b) buy the passenger a seat on another carrier with whom it has a
mutual interline traffic agreement; or
c) refund the unused portion of the passenger's ticket.

(This is actually less than the airlines do now - it says nothing about the alternate flight having to be timely, or require the airlines to pay denied boarding compensation. This will change nothing for AC...)

3) Passengers have a right to punctuality.
a) If a flight is delayed and the delay between the scheduled
departure of the flight and the actual departure of the flight
exceeds 4 hours, the airline will provide the passenger with a meal
voucher.
b) If a flight is delayed by more than 8 hours and the delay involves
an overnight stay, the airline will pay for overnight hotel stay
and airport transfers for passengers who did not start their travel
at that airport.
c) If the passenger is already on the aircraft when a delay occurs,
the airline will offer drinks and snacks if it is safe, practical
and timely to do so. If the delay exceeds 90 minutes and
circumstances permit, the airline will offer passengers the option
of disembarking from the aircraft until it is time to depart.

(This could clarify and codify current practices, and assure a minimum service standard if you are sitting on a plane that hasn't left the gate, but it doesn't specify how much the meal voucher should cost or the quality of the hotel. And when you combine it with Point 5, it absolves the airline of responsibility for weather, ATC, i.e. anything not under its control. And drinks and snacks are not defined - is water and a pack of trail mix sufficient?
There is the little matter of the caveat that it has to be "safe, practical and timely to do so, which is subject to vast interpretation. And can the airline charge for them? It doesn't say anything about free drinks and snacks. Even the right to disembark after 90 minutes is subject to the caveat that circumstances have to permit... )

4) Passengers have a right to retrieve their luggage quickly. If the
luggage does not arrive on the same flight as the passenger, the
airline will take steps to deliver the luggage to the passenger's
residence/hotel as soon as possible. The airline will take steps to
inform the passenger on the status of the luggage and will provide the
passenger with an over-night kit as required. Compensation will be
provided as per their tariffs.

(This is current practice for AC, and presumably WS. It also says the airline will "take steps" to see that it gets the bag to you, but so long as the airline is trying to reach you/find you, they appear to be in compliance. I had this experience in June with a bag that didn't make it to Newfoundland. The trace was initiated, we were authorized to incur some basic expenses, the bag got to Newfoundland when we were touring around, the baggage department in St. John's said it would get the bag to us anywhere in Newfoundland and Labrador providing we gave them a specific location (hotel, airport, etc). We settled on the Deer Lake Airport, where we got the bag.)

5) Nothing in Flight Rights Canada would make the airline responsible for
acts of nature or the acts of third parties. Airlines are legally
obligated to maintain the highest standards of aviation safety and
cannot be encouraged to fly when it is not safe to do so. Similarly,
airlines cannot be held responsible for inclement weather or the
actions of third parties such as acts of government or air traffic
control, airport authorities, security agencies, law enforcement or
Customs and Immigration officials.

(Here's your write-out that preserves the value of the "On My way" program. This Article basically tells you why little is changing.)

6) Flight Rights Canada does not exclude additional rights you may have
under the tariffs filed by your airline with the Canadian
Transportation Agency, or legal rights that international and trans-
border passengers have pursuant to international conventions (e.g.,
the Warsaw Convention) and related treaties.

tcook052

Not sure if this is a wholly new topic or built on this previous initiative but it'll only work if there's some willingness to make it work, which as we've seen with the 'all in pricing' hasn't.

fqtvboy

It should also be noted that this is not new, but merely re-stating old 'right's...

yyz_atc_qq

It won't make much of a difference as Harper is going to dissolve parliament on Sunday and there is no chance of it getting through the House of Commons by then. It will die along with all other bills that aren't done by then.

jmottle

I don't see anything in that bill of rights either that holds any airline to the fire on anything. Everything is worded such that if the airline can or chooses to they can. Leaves it wide open for them to continue doing whatever they please.