Rules for air travel being developed to govern cancellations and delays
Hoping to make air travel a little more friendly, the government is giving Canadians a chance to shape a passenger bill of rights — and today is the day Ottawans can have their say.
Consultations have been held across the country since Parliament passed the Transportation Modernization Act this spring, and the final consultation is set for Wednesday in Ottawa.
Scott Streiner, chair of the Canadian Transportation Agency, said the goal is to let people weigh in on what they want the rules to be.
“This is Canadians’s chance to shape the new regulations,” he said.
Delays, cancellations, compensation
The new rules will govern issues such as delays and cancellations, and outline compensation for passengers of airlines that break the rules.
Last summer, while the House of Commons was considering the legislation, two Air Transat flights spent hours on the tarmac at Ottawa’s airport in sweltering summer heat.
The new passenger bill of rights is set to regulate situations like that, with new rules for what happens after a plane has been delayed on the runway for three hours.
Streiner said the issue has clearly been important for many Canadians, and that “people want to see the right to disembark.”
Agency hopes to move quickly
He hopes the new rules will benefit airlines as well, he said, because it will foster better communication and set clearer expectations.
“People just want to know what is happening and what are they entitled to,” he said. “It helps to lower the temperature and keep things under control.”
The Ottawa consultation is being held downtown at the Delta Hotel on Lyon Street Wednesday afternoon.
Streiner said they have also been soliciting feedback online and they hope to move quickly on a new set of rules all airlines will have to live by.
“We know Canadians want to see this happen, so it’s a question of months, not years.”
