Backlog of air passenger complaints tops 57,000, hitting new peak

The backlog of air passenger complaints at Canada's transport regulator has hit a new high topping 57,000, as dissatisfaction over cancellations and compensation persist three and a half years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The numbers reveal that an average of more than 3,000 complaints per month have piled up at the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) over the past year, with the current tally well over three times the total from September 2022. Vancouver residents Chad Kerychuk and Melissa Oei say they are mulling a complaint after they arrived in Halifax six hours later than planned on a flight from their hometown in August 2021 and found themselves separated on board despite buying pricier tickets to select side-by-side spots in advance. The couple said WestJet has rejected their request for a partial refund. "More than a year has lapsed since the departure date and the claim period has expired. As such, your claim cannot be approved," WestJet told them in an email. Kerychuk said the response "feels like a wrong way to treat loyal customers" after years of opting for that carrier over competitors. "There was no effort made to support us, because we supported them during the pandemic. And I thought that was completely unfair," he said in a phone interview. WestJet notified customers the disruption was caused by "unplanned maintenance," an exclusion from compensation rules that the federal government says will soon be unavailable to carriers. In June, the government passed legislation to overhaul Canada's passenger rights charter, laying out measures to toughen penalties and tighten loopholes around traveller compensation as well as streamline the complaints process. "There will be no more loopholes where airlines can claim a disruption is caused by something outside of their control for a security reason when it's not," then-transport minister Omar Alghabra told reporters in April.<br/>