Canada's major airlines hit with over $100K fines for hundreds of violations
Major Canadian airlines have been hit with hefty fines in the past few months for hundreds of violations associated with flight delays and cancellations.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has issued these monetary penalties for violations that occurred in December and last summer.
These incidents include failing to provide reasons for flight delays and not compensating passengers promptly for their claims.
The biggest fines were recently imposed on WestJet and Sunwing.
Sunwing, which is set to be acquired by WestJet, committed 32 violations of “failing to provide the reason for a delay of flight to affected passengers” and four violations of failing to give status updates every 30 minutes on delayed flights between December 2022 and January 2023, according to the CTA.
Customers can still expect multiple delays at Toronto Pearson due to airport restrictions caused by overnight weather, impacting airline operations, & should continue checking their flight status for the most up-to-date information.
— Sunwing Vacations (@SunwingVacay) March 4, 2023
The airline was fined $126,000 for these offences in February.
The CTA says WestJet committed 122 violations of “not providing the prescribed compensation requested by a passenger or an explanation as to why compensation is not payable, within 30 days after the day on which it received the request.”
These offences occurred between July 2022 and January 2023, and cost the airline $112,800.
Swoop was fined $14,640 for 61 violations of failing to compensate passengers promptly between May and September 2022.
Flair Airlines, which has been in the hot seat after four of its planes were suddenly seized in Canada amid a “commercial dispute,” was issued a $39,000 fine by the CTA in January for 40 violations of failing to provide the minimum compensation of $500 to passengers who arrived at their destinations nine or more hours late.
Despite several publicly aired complaints, Air Canada surprisingly had the lowest amount of fines in the past year.
The airline was issued a fine of $13,400 in December for 67 violations of not promptly providing compensation to passengers’ claims. It was also fined just $2,500 for failing to announce to passengers on a flight at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport the reason for a delay on July 20, 2022.
After months of flight cancellations and delays, do you think these penalties are enough?
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