vernonc

New 'stricter' compensation rules proposed for Canada.
Canadian air passenger rights law will be 'toughest in the world': transport minister | CBC Radio

Air travel: Canada proposes tighter consumer rules | CTV News

Lessigen

I would encourage everyone to sign Gabor Lukacs' petition e-4376 (Google it, I'm unable to post links for now) to call on GC to adopt Bill C-327 into law and give more rights to consumers with airlines, if you haven't already. Here's hoping we get more momentum in adopting the Bill!

songsc

I have been talking to a few aviation analysts and lawyers regarding Lynx, and they all pointed out how APPR and many other regulations are limiting competitions and making airline industry less efficient in general. I am not saying I fully agree with what they said, but it's interesting to hear from a different perspective, and it somewhat explains why AC fights APPR claims so viciously sometime.

canadiancow

I have a different view on compensation entitlement for a delayed YVR-HKG flight than I do for a delayed HKG-YVR. I don't think AC is any less liable, but if the regulations were "block time from the nearest hub plus 3 hours", "block time from the nearest hub plus 6 hours", etc., I think AC would have a much harder time fighting it, and if it meant the elimination of "but required for safety", I'd probably be in favor of the change.

Delay compensation requirements are much worse for airlines that fly further. If your longest flight is 2 hours, then a last minute sick crew member at your furthest outstation might be recoverable before delay compensation kicks in.

If that happens to AC in HKG or MUC or GRU or SYD or anywhere remotely far away, that's hundreds of $1000 payments.

Though I still think the cost to the airline of an aircraft sitting around waiting for a part, a mechanic, or a crew member, is much more costly to the airline than $200k in compensation. So I'm not really sure what they're thinking...

...except I do know they're thinking that we're making too many baseless APPR claims. Because they've said as much.

Meanwhile my cousin is now 3 hours delayed in CUN (5 hour posted delay) and has still not been offered food. Or, to be more specific, she's been denied food. I guess this will turn into another baseless APPR claim.

flyingcrooked

But what’s their explanation of why airlines in the EU are so competitive, despite the wildly more stringent EU261? I’ve never heard a good explanation of this.

nli007

I agree, but I will think we are the minority.

​​​​​​Flair is next now that they are a "large" carrier. Their business model as a ULCC cannot support obligations as a large carrier full stop.

I fully expect them to go under like Lynx within next 12 months.

songsc

The point being, APPR is not only for protecting and compensating passengers, but more importantly, promoting/incentivizing airlines to provide better quality of service, hence becoming more competitive. What seems to be happening is that for whatever reasons airlines aren't improving their quality of service, as the data does not support better OTP since the introduction of APPR. We end up with airlines either paying compensations, which ultimately pass to consumers, or fighting against APPR rulings, again passing down the costs to consumers. Lynx going under is definitely not a sign of Canadian airlines are becoming more efficient and more competitive.

Just like most of the public policies, improving passenger experience is not as simple as introducing a law directly related to delay/cancellation compensation. What can airlines do about inefficient airport operators? How about ATC staff shortage? Pilot shortage and pilot union dramas? If airlines are toothless against these issues, then it's unfair to ask airlines to ultimately compensate passengers for the poor overall experience.

nli007

Quality of service is not something regulated by APPR btw. But so far, i think APPR has more or less failed in its objectives. All it has done is all significant costs to every airline (from payouts, to internal resources so they can process the claims, etc) aka benefitting only a small subset of passengers. As it stands the APPR is going to be the death of all ULCCs and regionals. There will be three airlines left by the end of this mess - AC, WestJet and Porter - and hopefully there is enough demand for all three to co-exist.

One potential fix that i dont see anyone talking about is and where governmental intervention could be very effective is to MANDATE every carrier to sign re-protection agreements with each other for IROPs.

songsc

My point is, compensations for delayed and cancelled flights penalize airlines for poor OTP, hence promoting airlines to provide better quality of service in terms of OTP and IROPS handling.

And yes, this is my exact critics about APPR. OTP has not improved, and all the payouts and costs of handling APPR claims come from nowhere but customers.

This is the exact type of government interventions that should be happening. What's better than receiving compensation for late arrival is, not arriving late at the first place. Better for customers, better for airlines.