As one who will very soon be on a plane, I watched with great interest but low expectations yesterday's committee hearing into the fiasco of air travel over the Christmas holidays. My expectations were met.
While many of the airline chiefs chose to appear via Zoom (not exactly a ringing endorsement of their airlines' ability to deliver them to Ottawa), the overall message from all of them was yes, they did not meet the expectations of their customers and so sorry, but, you know, the weather and 'operational issues' got in the way.
Not to be outdone by this anemic response, Canada's Transport Minister, Omar Alghabra, told the committee
he was being briefed multiple times a day by his staff as they spoke with Canada’s major airlines, whose executives also appeared to face questions from MPs over their handling of the disruptions.
Those executives and officials ... told the committee earlier Thursday they did not hear from Alghabra directly during the holiday season.
Clearly a man of action, Alghabra averred that he was involved all the way:
“The airlines and airports were not confused about my instructions or my feelings about what was happening, about my expectations.
“I want to tell you that our government is not hiding.”
Whatever those instructions, feelings and expectations were, they apparently forked no lightning in the offices of the airline executives. Likely they are aware of the fact that even though the government can levy fines of up to $25,000 (a mere pittance),
in the past five years just one carrier — WestJet, for 55 instances in late January 2022 — has been fined for not providing adequate compensation to passengers. The total penalty was $11,000.
WestJet was also fined $20,000 last year for multiple instances of failing to provide passengers a reason for delayed or cancelled flights in late December 2021 and early January 2022. Other airlines, including Air Canada and Flair, have been fined for the same violation in recent years.
That'll teach em', eh?
It seems unlikely that any further penalties will be assessed, as the transport minister urges people to file compensation claims under the Passenger Bill of Rights (you know, the one with enough loopholes, as one committee member said, to fly a 747 through). One of the problems with that 'solution', clearly an indication of the deference government is showing to the airlines, is the current backlog of 33,000 complaints, which will take at least 18 months to clear up.
“Why does this government treat the airlines with kid gloves?” NDP MP Taylor Bachrach asked Alghabra.
“We are not treating airlines with kid gloves,” the minister responded. “In fact we are looking at further strengthening the rules to ensure passengers are protected.”
Words, words words, as Hamlet famously said. But hey, perhaps the airlines have learned their lesson from this imbroglio. As the president of Sunwing, Len Corrado said,
“With all this said, the bottom line is we know we could have done better. When even one customer is let down by their experience with our airline. I consider that a failure,” he said.
“We’d like to reassure committee members and Canadians that we are committed to providing the quality of service experience they’ve come to expect from us over the last 20 years.”
I have the feeling that this will not be the last time Corrado and his ilk apologize for letting us down. But given this government and this minister's timidity, I guess we will have to be satisfied with that crumb from the corporate table.
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