Airline Passenger Complaint Handling: Ottawa Opens the Door to the Private Sector Without Guidelines

Yesterday, the federal government adopted its reform of the air passenger complaint handling system. Going forward, carriers will be able to designate private organizations to handle complaints from dissatisfied customers following a flight delay or cancellation. However, no safeguards have been put in place to regulate these new entities and ensure the protection of air passengers’ rights. 

Until now, these complaints were handled by the Canadian Transportation Agency, an independent federal agency. Last May, the government announced its intention to implement an alternative complaint-handling system to clear the significant backlog of approximately 100,000 pending cases at the Canadian Transportation Agency. 

Option consommateurs regrets that this reform was rushed through without parliamentary committee review or public consultation. Yet the bill leaves several questions unanswered regarding the guarantees of transparency and independence to which these future private complaint-handling bodies will be subject. 

“This is a step backward. We are repeating mistakes that had already been corrected in the banking sector in 2023 when we opted for a single complaints-handling body to ensure a fair system for consumers,” explains Sara Eve Levac, a lawyer and analyst.  

Option consommateurs believes it is essential to hold public consultations to establish guidelines for the governance of these new bodies. 

“This is the approach that was adopted for the Commission for complaints for telecom-television services, which handles complaints from telecommunications subscribers. Clear guidelines should be established regarding accountability and the composition of the board of directors of these private organizations,” says Ms. Levac.

About Option consommateurs 

Option consommateurs is a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the rights and interests of consumers. It focuses on issues related to personal finance, business practices, financial services, privacy protection, energy, debt, and access to justice.

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