CTA drowning in 85,000 air passenger complaints

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) is drowning in air passenger complaints.

According to CTV News, some 85,000—from delays and cancellations, to compensation disputes—have piled up. It’s a backlog that has been growing since the agency’s resolution office launched in 2023.

“It is going to take them more than two years to deal with just a current backlog,” Air Passenger Rights founder Gabor Lukacs, who is taking the CTA to court over lack of transparency, told CTV News. “In Canada, they have this system where the airline will say, ‘Well, it’s outside our control, so we don’t have to pay you anything.”

“So the Canadian Transportation Agency has the power to fine airlines that don’t obey the law, but they’re not using those powers,” he added, noting that airlines find it easier and more profitable to refuse to pay, forcing passengers to file a complaint through the CTA.

As a result, the CTA is considering charging airlines almost $800 for each eligible complaint.

“Charging airlines $790 for each complaint, including the vast majority when we are found to have applied the legislation correctly, would not be balanced nor an equitable way of addressing the issue,” Air Canada said in a statement to CTV News. “Air Canada cooperates with the CTA on a continuous basis, and our standard is to respond swiftly to all files transmitted by the agency and meet their response deadlines.”

“The Canadian Transportation Agency’s punitive proposal reflects a troubling disconnect between the Agency and the realities of Canada’s economy and aviation sector,” Westjet also said to CTV News. “Imposing additional costs on Canadian travellers, in an industry already oversaturated with high government taxes and fees, is very concerning—particularly during an affordability crisis in Canada."

The CTA said that it closed over 33,600 complaints in 2024-2025. As of July 20, it noted, 57.4 per cent of all decisions were in favour of passengers.

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