‘It’s a dog and pony show’: Air passenger rights expert rails against low airline fines in the wake of winter travel chaos
Global News
After a dark winter for passengers, multiple airlines were fined but a passenger rights advocate says it's too little, too late and he's calling for higher fines and less red tape.
After a dark winter at many airports, the Canadian regulator has taken notice and issued fines to multiple Canadian airlines after mass flight delays and cancellations.
However, an advocate for air passenger rights says the punishment from the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) is too little, too late.
“If an airline gets caught one out of 100 times and the amount at stake would be $500, then the fine should be at least $50,000. Just to break even,” according to Gábor Lukács, with the organization Air Passenger Rights.
“The maximum fine is $25,000 per violation under the Air Canada Transportation Act, but the Canadian Transportation Agency is nowhere near that.”
According to the CTA, Sunwing was slapped with a $126,000 fine and WestJet hit with $112,800.
While that may seem like a big fine, it only works out to a few hundred dollars per transgression, Lukács calling it especially galling since the CPA could issue a $25,000 fine per violation.
“It’s a dog and pony show.”
He says it’s also frustrating since these fines are a drop in the bucket for airlines and passengers are often forced to bear the costs without repayment.