Filing a CTA complaint over Air Canada strike? Expect long delays

Air Canada customers hoping to file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) regarding their experience during the recent flight attendants’ strike should expect a long wait.

As of August 14—two days before the strike began—the regulator reported a backlog of roughly 85,000 air travel complaints, the Canadian Press reports.  

At that point, the regulator had received nearly 13,500 complaints so far this year, not yet accounting for any stemming from the strike, which lasted nearly four days, disrupting the flights of some 500,000 Air Canada customers.

The backlog has been increasing since 2019 when Ottawa first introduced rules establishing compensation for flight delays, cancellations, and other issues.

In 2023, the CTA launched a new system to boost its capacity for handling complaints, but the volume of submissions has continued to rise.

READ MORE: CTA drowning in 85,000 air passenger complaints

During the 2024-25 fiscal year, the CTA received nearly 47,000 complaints, up from about 43,500 in 2023-24 and 42,000 in 2022-23.

That earlier year, complaints had surged dramatically from roughly 12,000 the previous year.

As previously reported, the CTA is also considering charging airlines almost $800 for each eligible complaint. But airlines say this plan misses the mark.

READ MORE: “A challenging week”: Travel pros welcome end of Air Canada strike, but call out unpaid work & chaos

“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 last July. “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 CTA’s punitive proposal also reflects a “troubling disconnect” between the Agency and the realities of Canada’s economy and aviation sector,” WestJet also said at the time.

“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 airline said.

The CTA closed more than 33,600 complaints in 2024-25.

A CTA spokesperson told CP that “unpredictability in complaint volumes poses challenges in planning for case processing times and delivering accurate information to the public.”

The agency added that it reviews and streamlines its processes and procedures, while adopting new technologies and tools to enhance efficiency.

Customers who file a complaint with the CTA can expect to wait 1.5 to two years for a resolution, if not longer, says Air Passenger Rights advocacy group president Gabor Lukacs.

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