Don Mills: Air travel not for the faint hearted

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As a frequent traveller, I have been debating whether or not to do a column on the state of air travel for some time. Since 9/11, air travel has become increasingly more challenging for everyone involved in this sector, not the least for those of us that use air to travel. Two recent personal experiences reinforced those sentiments. There is little doubt that the pandemic worsened the challenges facing the airline industry, especially with regard to rebuilding their workforces and re-establishing normalcy in terms of the routes served prior to COVID-19.

Direct regional impact

One of the direct impacts of the pandemic to Atlantic Canada was the loss of inter- and intra-regional air services, especially within the three Maritime provinces. These were the flights that previously served between Halifax mostly and cities like Sydney, Fredericton, Moncton and Charlottetown. That is not to say the service that was previously available was that great, unless you like inconvenient scheduling, high ticket prices and flying on old and unreliable equipment with a high likelihood of needing unscheduled repairs. But at least it saved hours of driving between these cities.

The disappearance of this service in the region has had the biggest negative impact on business travel, adding significant time and cost to doing business around the region. The best period for air travel within the region was when there was competition. That kept the prices competitive. When Air Canada (using Air Georgian) was the only carrier offering service within the region and using the oldest aircraft flying commercially in Canada, it often set what can only be described as predatory pricing. How else would you describe paying more than $1,000 to fly from Halifax to Charlottetown for a 20-minute flight with no on-board service or even a bathroom? There are some rumblings of efforts to restart air services within the region. If you remember the old Eastern Provincial Airway days, having local interests involved in providing regional air service is likely the only way that such service will be restored. Credit to PAL Airlines for their efforts to restore some elements of regional service.

Air passenger rights not working

The federal government, to its credit, passed legislation in 2019 aimed at protecting air travellers in Canada from some of the more egregious practices of airlines and attempting to hold airlines more responsible and accountable for the service promised. This includes providing travellers with compensation for delays over three hours that could be attributed to the airlines. You can find your rights as an air traveller here (https://rppa-appr.ca). In addition, airlines are now required to provide their customers with the reasons for any flight delays. If you request updates from the airlines you use, you will receive such notifications. You would be well advised to save these notifications in the event of a delay exceeding three hours.

There is a process available from all airlines for their customers to seek such compensation for unduly long delays. The problem for air travellers is the airline is the sole adjudicator of such claims and there is no process to appeal their decision with the airlines. As you would expect, such decisions generally favour the airline. Your only recourse is to then file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) who is charged with monitoring and holding airlines accountable. This involves submitting a written complaint with documentation which CTA is supposed to respond to in 30 days. Not surprising, based on personal experience, this seems to be just a guideline not a requirement. I recently submitted such a complaint only to find I was number 70,902 on the list and because of the backlog it would take to up to 18 months to review my complaint. So much for protecting air travellers’ rights. It is perhaps telling that a WestJet representative recently told me to submit a complaint to CTA knowing full well how hard it is to get a complaint dealt with.

Recent personal experiences

This year I have had two international trips, one for business and one for pleasure. One was with WestJet and one was with Air Canada. Both airlines failed me. The first trip for business meant flying through Toronto and because of the early flight time, I flew up the night before to ensure I made the connection. In the end, the flight was delayed for nearly five hours for a variety of reasons, none of them weather-related. I submitted a claim for the excessive delay based on the notifications provided by the airline that clearly indicated it was their responsibility. Very shortly after submitting the claim, I received notification the claim was denied because the reason for the delay was weather-related. I knew this was not the case as the result of the notifications I had received from the airline (as required by CTA). After several attempts to reverse this decision with the airline, I sent a complaint to CTA looking to resolve this issue. I received an indication they would respond in 30 days. I am still waiting. The trip was in January.

The second trip was for pleasure. This time flying through Calgary. The flight to the United States was delayed because of a snowstorm in Calgary for two hours. Completely understandable. On our way to our final destination, our pilot informed us we would have to divert to another airport due to a windstorm in our final destination. The alternate airport was a two-hour drive from our final destination. After deplaning, we were told we were now on our own to get to our final destination and we were to submit our expenses to the airline for reimbursement. By the way, on our return home we missed our connection and had to stay overnight in Calgary, finally arriving home a day late with only half our luggage. The inability to simply resolve these issues of compensation is frustrating and air travellers are left in a situation that they have to chase the airlines or CTA to seek relief.

Looking ahead

At one time there was a sense of adventure and fun attached to flying. That is no longer the case. Now everyone flies with their fingers crossed there will not be any major disruptions to their plans as a result of air travel or that their luggage will arrive with them. I know of no one who has flown in the past year who has not experienced some problems with their flights.

Despite all their assertions about their interest in serving their customers, too many of the major airlines are failing to meet customers’ expectations. And there is little evidence airlines really care about the inconveniences their service failures cause their customers. Whether it is delays, or lost baggage or missed connections, you are basically on your own to figure out a solution. One thing is clear and that is the federal agency responsible for the airlines and their performances need increased authority and the resources required to ensure they deliver what is promised to air passengers. That starts with stronger enforcement of their Air Passenger Bill of Rights to force airlines to properly compensate air travellers for delays caused by the frequent inability of airlines to provide the staff and equipment to fly their long scheduled routes. Why are there no consequences for poor on-time performance? Air Canada was recently ranked last among the major airlines in North America for their on-time performance.

The airlines need to get serious about their standard of service and air passenger rights in this country (and elsewhere) and remember who is actually paying for the service.

Don Mills is the co-founder and former owner of Corporate Research Associates Inc. (now Narrative Research), an active advocate for change and involved as a partner with several private companies. He is also the co-host of the weekly Insights Podcast.