Air travel complaints backlog could surge to 126,000 by 2028: report

Air passengers filing complaints with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) over delayed or cancelled flights shouldn't expect a swift resolution.

It has been well documented that Canada’s airline regulator can take up to two years (or more) to resolve complaints—a delay that, since the COVID-19 pandemic, has contributed to a backlog of over 87,000 cases.

And now, according to new data that was recently made public, this backlog could increase even more — by as much as 45 per cent by 2028.

Pressure mounts

As shared by CBC News, the forecast was obtained through Access to Information by public policy researcher Ken Rubin, who asked the CTA to project the number of complaints passengers will submit over the next three years.

The independent, quasi-judicial agency provided low-, mid- and upper-range projections for 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28, based on forecasting done in May 2023.

Even under the most optimistic scenario — where complaint filings sharply decline and the CTA maintains its current resolution rate — the backlog would could decrease to 63,763 cases by 2028.

But complaint numbers have been climbing since the CTA made that first forecast.

Using the worst-case projections, by 2028 the backlog could reach 126,000 — an increase of 45 per cent, CBC reports.

Meaning, impacted passengers could be left waiting well over three years for a resolution.

Cost-recovery system

When you read numbers like that, it’s hard not to question whether the system is really working.

In 2023, Parliament directed the CTA to introduce a cost-recovery system requiring airlines to help fund the complaint resolution process.

As PAX previously reported, CTA proposed charging airlines $790 for each eligible complaint closed by the agency – regardless of whether it rules in favour of passengers or not.

The fee is meant to cover 60 per cent of the cost of resolving eligible complaints, and based on its own data and trends at the time, the CTA estimated that it would be able to close some 22,615 eligible air travel complaints per year.

The agency says the estimated total costs to process air travel complaints is $29,777,523 annually.

But this plan has yet to be implemented, despite the CTA chair and CEO France Pégeot's saying one would be in place by the end of last year.

Since the CTA launched consultations on the proposal last September, WestJet has met with government officials at least 17 times to discuss, among other topics, the agency’s cost-recovery plans, according to lobbying records, CBC reports.

Air Canada has also held more than 20 meetings with officials over the same period, though its lobbying disclosures are less detailed, citing only general topics such as “transportation” or “aviation-related policies, legislation, and regulations.”

What’s the solution?

Then there’s the nearly $76 million Ottawa announced in 2023 for improving the complaints resolution process.

The funding came in response to a surge in air travel complaints that were largely driven by delays related to post-pandemic inefficiencies and a turbulent winter season.

At the time, then-Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the money would go towards hiring roughly 200 more employees at the CTA, a move that would “significantly” increase the agency’s complaint processing power.

The government is in still in process of updating its regulations while a backlog of complaints continues to increase.

A “complex” regime

Speaking to CBC, air passenger advocate Gábor Lukács said Canada has an “unnecessarily and disproportionately complex regime” for handling flight disruptions.

He said the issue lies in how complaints are generally divided into just three broad categories:

situations within the airline's control, situations within the airline's control but required for safety, and situations outside the airline's control.

He advocates adopting the European Union's system, where airlines can only avoid paying compensation under "extraordinary circumstances" — which do not include maintenance, many safety issues and staffing shortages.

"In the vast majority of cases, eligibility becomes a very quick administrative task that can be done by people with very basic training," Lukács told CBC.

A spokesperson for Canada’s current Minister of Transport Chrystia Freeland said in a statement to CBC that the waitlist for resolving air passenger complaints "must be addressed" and that the government is working to improve air passenger protections.

“Canadians work hard, save up, and put money aside for travel. They deserve to have a positive experience when they travel,” Freeland said. “The Government of Canada is committed to implementing a comprehensive and seamless air passenger protection system.”

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