OTTAWA — Federal Transport Minister
Members of the
In the days before and after Christmas, thousands of passengers saw their flights delayed or cancelled and hundreds more were stranded in
During his testimony, Alghabra warned that Canadians shouldn't view the holiday disruptions as a continuation of the struggles the country's airports faced last summer, when they were adjusting to a widespread return to travel for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the time, passengers complained about long lines at security and customs checkpoints — areas operated by government agencies that the minister said did not fail over the holidays.
Alghabra said extreme winter weather triggered the widespread disruptions. But he pinned the main problem on airlines for leaving passengers in the dark as they tried to rebook trips and get answers when their plans were upended.
"I want to tell you that our government is not hiding," the minister said to committee members.
"We are going to assume our responsibilities, and the industry must assume theirs."
Alghabra singled out
For one thing, it was the vacation airline's customers who ended up stranded in
For another, it drew further condemnation by announcing on
"We failed to deliver to the level that we had expected and that Canadians had expected from us over this holiday season," Sunwing president
He said the airline's operations struggled after the winter storms caused massive delays at airports in
Corrado said the
He said the company first learned its application had failed around
Representatives from
WestJet vice-president
"We have heard (from) you and others and from our guests, specifically, that our guest communication was lacking. So we're going to do a better job of that," Gibbons said.
The executive pushed, however, back against MPs' assertions that the holiday travel headaches Canadians experienced are reason to strengthen air passenger protection regulations. Under the measures, passengers can seek compensation from airlines when flights are delayed or cancelled.
During his testimony, Alghabra reiterated that he plans to beef up those rules with new legislation that could come as soon as this spring.
Speaking at a separate event Thursday, Prime Minister
Federal Conservatives and New Democrats agree the rules must be toughened, including to force airlines to compensate passengers automatically rather than travellers having to file a complaint when their flight is delayed or cancelled.
"We do not believe the priority right now should be additional penalties on the only group that has any accountability and regulations that govern it," Gibbons said. "It should be to apply it equally to everyone as the top priority."
"This is not about blame game. It is simply about improving the system overall," he added.
One source of concern for Opposition MPs was a backlog of 33,000 complaints held by the
Agency CEO
NDP MP
"The airport could not keep up with proper apron clearing. Employees could not tow aircraft. We could not disembark using air stairs onto an open surface and transport the passengers to the terminal. All these were explored, all these questions were asked," O'Connor said.
"Nobody wanted us to have customers on board for 11 hours."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
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