Plane taking off

Do you know what your rights are?

With air travel getting busier these days. and competition, getting tighter, airline companies are trying to maintain their profitability by squeezing as many people in a flights as possible, charging for things that used to be free and overbooking.   Consequently airline passenger complaints have increased 10 fold over the last five years.  The question is whether the increase in complaints may be because consumers are becoming more aware on what kind of recourse they have when confronted with poor service or standards or if the quality of service is actually starting to decline.  Canadian Industry experts do not believe that service has remarkably gotten worse.   In the age of social media, customers  are more connected to where they can find information to voice their grievances and take action.

As a passenger, do you know what your rights are? This is a great web site to educate yourself.

https://airpassengerrights.ca/en/

Air Passenger Rights is a non-profit web site run by volunteers.  I will put a permanent link on our web site.  Below are a couple of snap shots of how the number of air travel related complaints have increased over the years.  You can also visit the Canadian Transportation Agency to submit a complaint.

Year Total Air Travel Complaints Filed

2017-2018

5500

2016-2017

3636

2015-2016

1062

2014-2015

1107

2013-2014

1019

2012-2013

583
Source: Canadian Transport Agency

 

Issues – All Carriers
YEARS 2017-2018 2016-2017 2015-2016 2014-2015 2013-2014
Flight disruptions 2657 1325 495 635 568
Baggage 1517 968 276 308 281
Issues outside the Agency’s jurisdiction 1036 518 275 91 406
Ticketing 362 334 106 111 136
Refusal to transport 359 382 114 122 170
Reservations 286 159 71 78 172
Denied boarding 159 135 55 50 82
Fares 26 49 14 11 105
Other 22 14 7 4 69
Total 6424 3884 1406 1406 1920

Source: Canadian Transport Agency