New Canadian airline rules won’t help all travellers with issues, advocate says

Canada’s new airline rules now compel airlines to make sure passengers get where they’re going: within 48 hours, they must agree to issue refunds. But the additional regulations, born out of frustrations over how airlines treated customers at the start of the pandemic, won’t help an Ottawa couple and others. “Two and a half years later we’re trying to get our money back for something we were never given, never utilized, because of the pandemic,” said Shawn Allenby. Allenby, his wife, Debbie, and their children were scheduled to take an all-inclusive sun vacation with their two children. But on March 13, 2020, the Allenby family say they obeyed the direction of federal and public health officials not to travel for non-essential purposes internationally. “We were hearing from everybody, all the authorities, not to travel, to stay home,” said Debbie. The couple say they repeatedly tried to get through to their travel agency and the airline to inform the airline that they were heeding public health advice — but couldn’t through jammed phone lines. Air Transat considered them a no-show and cancelled the trip without providing a credit or a refund. Since then, they have written letters to their travel agency, credit card company, their Member of Parliament, the Prime Minister, and others to make their case. Stories like theirs were common at the beginning of the pandemic. “The pressure from the public was overwhelming. It’s no fault of the consumer that there’s a pandemic,” said John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre based in Ottawa. Story has more.<br/>