Complaints backlog mounts as Canadian Transportation Agency faces staff shortage

Canada's transport regulator says its backlog of air passenger complaints is growing as a staff shortage comes up against a summer of airport chaos, which itself is due in part to labour shortages. Tom Oommen, director general of analysis and outreach at the Canadian Transportation Agency, says the quasi-judicial body is trying to hire more facilitators who can help resolve customer complaints against airlines. “We are hiring,” Oommen said. “But people are always looking for other opportunities and places to leverage their knowledge. It's kind of an employee's market these days.” The complaint backlog ballooned to more than 15,300 in May. It rose further “in the last month or so,” Oommen said, as a surge in travellers overwhelmed airline and airport resources following two years of muted demand. Oommen said it's “entirely possible” the regulator will receive more than 15,000 new complaints - distinct from the existing backlog - this fiscal year, which began April 1. That total would top the 12,158 fresh complaints from the previous 12 months, many relating to refunds withheld following flight cancellations by airlines. It takes about 19 business days on average to resolve a complaint once it reaches an agency facilitator, but that file now takes about a year before it lands on their desk, with case numbers continuing to climb, Oommen said. Complaints seeking compensation for flight delays and cancellations - and, more recently, misplaced luggage - comprise the bulk of cases, he said. Worker retention is among the staffing challenges facing the Gatineau, Que.-based regulator, which pays new facilitators between $65,500 and $70,700 per year, according to a federal government job posting.<br/>