Air Canada says it is adopting a policy to cover “certain transportation expenses” incurred by customers while getting to their destinations during the recent work stoppage.
The airline said Wednesday it will reimburse customers for those costs if they had a cancelled flight originally scheduled to depart from Aug. 15 to Aug. 23, Air Canada was unable to rebook them and they then made alternative arrangements themselves.
A new form available on Air Canada’s website allows customers to request a refund if they only completed part of their journey with Air Canada or had to rely on an alternative method of transportation due to the strike.
The policy appears to signal that Air Canada is acknowledging “its legal obligation to reimburse passengers for alternate transportation costs that they incurred” in situations where the airline failed to rebook customers on other flights, said Air Passenger Rights advocacy group president Gabor Lukacs.
He said that under the national Airline Passenger Protection Regulations, Air Canada had an obligation when cancelling flights to either rebook passengers on its own or partner airlines within 48 hours of the original departure time, or to rebook them on the next available flight of any airline, including competitors.
But Lukacs said Air Canada did not meet that requirement in many cases. He said he heard from customers who received emails from the airline indicating there were no alternative flights available through its competitors.
“That was untrue in many cases. We have heard from passengers that they were able to buy an alternate transportation for a much higher price,” he said.
“Air Canada, under the law, was required to buy those tickets for the passengers at its own dime.”
Air Canada has said it continues to offer customers with cancelled flights related to the work stoppage a full refund or credit for future travel if they cannot be rebooked on a competitor’s flight.
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For those who prefer to be rebooked, it cautions that “capacity is limited due to peak summer travel.”
Matt Turner of Stoke-on-Trent, England, said he was told by Air Canada that an alternative flight to Toronto couldn’t be found after his family’s Aug. 20 booking was cancelled on one day’s notice.
The family had planned to be in Toronto for an upcoming Oasis concert, having splurged on VIP tickets to celebrate their 11-year-old son’s graduation from elementary school.
“When it first happened, we looked into getting flights to Canada a different way,” said Turner. However, he said the family decided they couldn’t afford to pay the inflated last-minute prices on other carriers.
Turner said they accepted the refund “to avoid the risk of losing even more money.”
He said the family is also out nearly $3,000 in concert tickets alone, plus hundreds more for cancelled hotels, car rentals and other activities.
“We are at a loss and completely numb,” he said.
Air Canada’s website says only those who originally booked directly with Air Canada are eligible to request a reimbursement for alternative transportation through its new submission page.
Customers are entitled to reimbursement if they paid “a reasonable fare on another airline” within five days of their original departure date, it states. Such fares must be in the same or lower cabin to their original flights.
Customers can also submit claims for alternative transportation options such as bus, ferry or car expenses.
The form excludes passengers who booked their original flights via Aeroplan, a travel agency or another airline.
“Now, after days of media scrutiny, Air Canada is willing to make amends with the public and is offering to pay for that alternate transportation,” said Lukacs.
“What is unclear to me is why Air Canada is insisting on only tickets that were bought from Air Canada. The obligations for tickets bought through (airlines) or travel agents are the same. Air Canada has to reimburse alternate methods of transportation, regardless of how you purchased your ticket.”
The latest development comes as Air Canada continues ramping up flights amid an operational restart expected to take more than a week.
Air Canada resumed flights Tuesday afternoon after a complete halt to Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge routes that began early Saturday morning.
As of Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, 90 per cent of domestic flights were expected to operate over the next 24 hours, along with 95 per cent of U.S. flights and 54 per cent of other international routes, according to a dashboard on Air Canada’s website.
It said the average contact centre wait time was around an hour and 18 minutes.
Air Canada has cautioned that a return to full, regular service would take up to 10 days as aircraft and crew are out of position. The delays are compounded by mandatory maintenance checks that must take place because aircraft were on the ground for more than three days.
“Regrettably, during this period some flights will be cancelled until the schedule is stabilized, and we’ll notify customers well in advance and provide options,” said Air Canada executive vice-president and chief operations officer Mark Nasr in a Tuesday evening press release.
The airline and the union representing more than 10,000 of its flight attendants struck a new tentative agreement on Tuesday morning with the help of a federal mediator.
The agreement must still be ratified by the flight attendants, with a vote scheduled to take place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 6.
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