Thursday, March 28, 2024

Timer

Canadian Transportation Agency unveils new refund rights for airline passengers

First Published:

Airline passengers will have additional rights when it comes to refunds starting this fall.

Beginning early September, airlines will either have to refund passengers or rebook them, at the traveller’s choice, if a flight is cancelled or delayed by three hours or more.

This is one of the new regulations the Canadian Transportation Agency announced to improve its passenger rights charter.

Thousands of Canadians have faced a number of problems as airlines, security and customs agencies struggle to handle staffing shortages as travel increases after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agency said the new regulations will come into effect on Sept. 8.

In the past, the passenger rights regime only required refunds for flight disruptions that were within the airline’s control, which did not include situations such as weather, war or unscheduled mechanical issues.

The rules will require airlines to offer a rebooking or refund within 30 days if they cannot provide a new reservation within 48 hours of a flight cancellation or three-hour-plus delay.

Any unused part of a ticket must be covered, including “any unused add-on service paid for,” the agency said.

A refund has to be the same as the original payment method. That means a credit card purchase could not be reimbursed with a travel voucher, as most Canadian airlines did for nearly a year starting in March 2020 with hundreds of thousands of cancellations due to the pandemic.

More Top News

Evening weather forecast for March 27, 2024

Shelly Marriage shares the forecast for March 27, 2024 and the days ahead.

Sister of man involved in Burlington hit-and-run speaks out

The sister of a man struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run in Burlington on Sunday is speaking out. She says she's not sure if...

Horwath to veto council’s decision not to build affordable housing on Stoney Creek parking lots

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath says she's using her "strong mayor" powers to veto city council's decision not to move forward with a plan to...

Niagara police identify 2 people found dead in St. Catharines home

Niagara police have released the identities of the two people found dead in a home in St. Catharines on Monday. Officers were called to 47...

Ontario international student permits to go to in-demand areas

Ontario will give the vast majority of its allocated international student study permits to post-secondary institutions that offer in-demand programs such as in the...

Sportsline: Hamilton Ticats all-star receiver Tim White on his World Vision trip to Asia

VIDEO: As a sibling of nine in Los Angeles, Tim White and his family lived through some hard times. So when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats...