Passengers whose flights cancelled months out still owed rebooking: CTA

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The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has weighed in after customers complained that Flair Airlines cancels flights and ignores its responsibility to rebook passengers on competitor’s routes.

A spokesperson with the federal regulator tells Daily Hive an airline is on the hook to rebook a customer free of charge if the cancellation is within the airline’s control.

“These rules for rebooking apply regardless of how far in advance the flight cancellation occurs.”

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Daily Hive spoke with Flair customer Suzanne Zyla, who booked a Flair ticket from Fort Lauderdale to Kitchener-Waterloo this summer. Flair cancelled her flight earlier this month, saying it was revising its summer schedule.

Zyla provided phone recordings with one Flair agent who said the airline only rebooks customers if the cancellation happens within 24 hours. An email from another Flair representative claimed the airline only rebooks for cancellations within 14 days.

“I’m shocked that they’re allowed to operate and not comply with the law,” Zyla said.

Air passenger rights advocate Gábor Lukács says Canadian carriers tend to shirk their APPR responsibilities. And it frustrates him. This month, he’s heard multiple stories of Flair Airlines ignoring its mandate as a large carrier to rebook customers whose flights were cancelled.

“It’s so obvious that what’s happening here is wrong,” he said.

Daily Hive has reached out to Flair for comment.

Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) mandates that large carriers that cancel a flight for a reason within their control must rebook passengers on their next flight, leaving within nine hours of the original departure time.

If Flair can’t find a suitable flight with one of its partners, it must rebook a passenger on any airline as soon as feasible. The new flight must leave within 48 hours of the original ticket’s departure time.

Flair moved from being designated a small carrier to a large carrier in January, increasing its rebooking responsibilities under the APPR. Lukács said Flair is dodging the law because it hasn’t yet updated its own tariffs to match.

The CTA says it works with Flair to update its domestic and international tariffs.

“The APPR still apply, and passengers that think they have not received what they are entitled to can make a complaint with the Agency.”

Flair fined $183,000 for violations in two years

Lukács has been vocal in his criticism of the CTA, arguing that airlines flout their responsibilities because of a lack of enforcement by the federal government.

Customers are often forced to go through small claims court to win the delay and cancellation reimbursements to which they’re legally entitled.

In response, the CTA told Daily Hive it has several monitoring tools it uses to make sure airlines comply with APPR. In the past two fiscal years, from April 1, 2022, to February 27, 2024, Flair has been fined more than $183,000 in administrative monetary penalties — less than the typical two-year salary of one of their pilots.

“The laws are there, but enforcement is virtually nonexistent,” Lukács said