MP blasts plan to outsource air passenger complaints, says it favours airlines

A Bloc Québécois MP and vice-chair of the transport committee criticized the federal government’s proposal to shift air passenger complaints to independent third-party providers on Monday (May 25), arguing that the process lacks transparency and would give airlines an unfair advantage.

Xavier Barsalou-Duval said the Liberal’s proposal would transfer responsibility for handling passenger complaints — currently overseen by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) — to arbitrators selected by the transport minister.

The CTA is currently struggling with an eye-popping backlog of roughly 97,000 unresolved cases.

READ MORE: Ottawa to outsource air passenger complaints to third party amid backlog

Under the proposed legislation, as PAX previously reported, airlines would have 90 days to select and sign an agreement with one of the dispute-resolution providers approved by Transport Canada.

The transport minister would then be required to issue a decision within 90 days of a complaint being filed.

“In practice, airlines would be able to choose their own arbitrators,” said Barsalou-Duval in French in a press conference on Monday, as reported by the Toronto Star. “They would decide who handles complaints against them and ultimately who gets compensated and who does not, all in a completely opaque manner.”

“I find this situation very concerning.”

A European-style approach

In its spring economic update, released April 28, the Liberal government revealed that it intends to adopt a European-style approach to air passenger complaints, where outside adjudicators handle complaints on issues such as refunds and accessibility.

It comes as Air Canada begins its own pilot project for resolving compensation claims through an external arbitrator as part of a pilot program.

As reported, the airline plans to randomly select 500 passengers from the CTA’s backlog and give them the option of having their cases reviewed by Canada Aviation Dispute Resolution, a subsidiary of U.K.-based dispute resolution company CDRL Group.

Growing frustration

While consumer rights advocates have expressed skepticism, both Air Canada’s initiative, and the government’s proposal, suggest growing frustration with the current system.

Speaking to The Star, air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs argued that outsourcing complaints to independent arbitrators is not a real fix, saying it does little to solve the underlying issue behind the backlog: the exemptions in the law.

Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations include more exemptions than Europe’s system, which Lukacs said makes complaints more complex and slower to process.

Among those are rules that allow airlines to withhold compensation for disruptions considered beyond their control, including certain safety-related incidents.

While the Canadian government pledged in 2023 to narrow those exemptions, no changes have been formally implemented.

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