It’s the final day before a potential work stoppage could ground all Air Canada flights, so what does this mean for travellers?
Air Passenger Rights president Gábor Lukács sat down with CityNews to explain what clients should consider at the time.
What exactly are the rights of Air Canada clients right now with plane tickets for Saturday and beyond?
GL: “Once the strike may be already underway, Air Canada’s passenger protection regulations provides a right to a rebooking on alternate transportation, including on competitors at Air Canada’s dime. Air Canada is required to rebook passengers not only on its own or partner airlines, but if it is unable to find an alternate flight on one of those that depart within 48 hours of the original departure time, once the strike is ongoing, Air Canada has to buy the passenger ticket on a competitor airline.
What we have been seeing actually that Air Canada has been deceiving passengers telling them that there are no flights available on competitor airlines at all. In many cases, that’s untrue. In one case we have seen, there were more than a dozen options for the passenger on other airlines, yet the passenger received an e-mail telling them no other flights for you.”
Why shouldn’t passengers accept a refund from Air Canada?
GL: “Passengers should not accept a refund because that may be used as evidence against them that they are no longer entitled to alternate transportation. It is one way or another. Either you take a refund or you take alternate transportation. And if you take a refund now, it is going to cover perhaps a quarter or half of your alternate transportation cost.
The law requires Air Canada to pay for that type of cost. So if Air Canada refuses to provide your alternate transportation, the correct sequence of events is you going out and buying yourself a ticket to a different airline for a much higher price, not cancelling your original booking or seeking a refund, but sending a bill for a new transportation telling them you lied to me. You told me there are no flights, but here’s a flight I was able to book and now you pay for it.”
Is it is wise for someone to buy another ticket with another airline right now before any decisions are made?
GL: “No. You have to first wait until your flight is cancelled, then wait until Air Canada has some chance to rebook you. It doesn’t have to be many hours, maybe two, three hours, but you have to give them a chance to the right thing. If Air Canada tells you falsely that there are no other flights, well you can find a flight at that point. That’s a good trigger, a good cue to buy a new ticket because then Air Canada has already told you we are not doing what the law requires us to do.”
So what is your advice for people right now in this situation waiting for their flight to either be cancelled or maintained?
GL: “Stay put, don’t jump the gun, wait until Air Canada cancels your flight.”
Lukács encourages travellers to visit the Air Passenger Rights website for more information.
