OTTAWA —
The agency says there were 28,673 complaints in total for the year up to
The year's total includes 12,158 new complaints, for about an eight per cent drop from the previous year, plus the carry-over of 16,515 reports from the prior year.
Flight disruptions was markedly the biggest issue, followed by ticketing and then reservations, all in the thousands. Issues that saw complaints in the hundreds or less included baggage problems, refusal to transport, standards of treatment, and communications.
The agency says it processed 15,264 complaints, up from 10,227 the previous year, with about half of resolutions processed through the airline financial aid package.
WestJet had the most complaints processed against it at 3,288, a significant jump from the 1,101 a year earlier, while
The CTA says it was left with 13,409 complaints still in progress at the end of the year, a drop from the year earlier and in line with the total for the year ending
Complaints spiked considerably in the 2019-2020 year, coming in at 19,392 compared with 7,650 a year earlier. The jump was largely due to the passenger rights charter implemented that year, while problems from
The Air Passenger Protection Regulations that came into force in 2019 set among other rules, that passengers have to be compensated up to
Airlines have argued that the rules go too far, with
The CTA said in 2020 that it would be hiring more staff to process the increase in complaints. It said it had also streamlined its complaints process earlier in the year, introducing a more user-friendly complaint form online along with increased automation.
This report by
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