Why passengers are not filing complaints and taking airlines to small claims court instead

As passengers continue to sound the alarm that airlines aren’t providing valid reasons when denying compensation for delayed and cancelled flights, the number of complaints filed with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) continues to rise. A process that commonly begins with an email from an airline referring to a delay or cancellation as an event that “was out of the airline’s control” or a “safety-related issue”, ultimately denying the passenger compensation under Canada’s current Air Passenger Protection Regulation, leaving them feeling frustrated and helpless in determining the validity in the airline’s claim. According to the CTA, in 2022 they received 26,840 complaints related to flight disruptions, ranging from flight and tarmac delays, flight cancellations, and denials of boarding. And with the backlog of air passenger complaints sitting at over 47,000 and the estimated wait time for a case to be reviewed at 18 months, it’s no surprise that a number of travellers across the country are choosing to take airlines to small claims court in search of compensation, rather than filing a complaint with the CTA.<br/>