Airlines in the US must now issue automatic refunds for delayed flights — could Canada see the same?
Frequent flyers in the US just got some good news — they will be compensated for delayed flights automatically and quickly.
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) announced new rules on Wednesday that will require airlines to automatically give cash refunds to passengers for cancelled and significantly delayed flights.
In a press conference, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the new rules requiring prompt refunds are the biggest expansion of passenger rights in the department’s history, reported ABC News.
Our department just issued rules to protect people from hidden airline fees and to require airlines to give passengers automatic cash refunds when owed. No more having to fend for yourself and jump through hoops to get your money back—airlines will have to automatically do this. pic.twitter.com/Jv7dFmnNkI
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) April 24, 2024
According to the new policies, flyers will be “entitled to a refund if their flight is cancelled or significantly changed, and they do not accept alternative transportation or travel credits offered.”
The DOT will also require airlines to give cash refunds for lost bags not delivered within 12 hours.
According to the DOT, the refunds must be issued within seven days and in cash unless the passenger chooses another form of compensation.
With cancelled and delayed flights still plaguing Canadian airports, could these rules be implemented in the US’s neighbour to the north?
Gabor Lukács, president of the Air Passenger Rights advocacy group, says the importance of this new policy is that it’s an automatic refund, meaning that airlines will have to issue a refund even if the flyer doesn’t submit a claim.
“Sure, having an automatic refund would be a step forward. It would be nice, but the problem is far bigger,” he told Daily Hive over the phone.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) determines that Canadian travellers have had a fundamental right to a refund for delayed and cancelled flights since 2004.
However, Lukács says the difference between Canada and the US is that the DOT effectively enforces its rule for refunds, even during the COVID pandemic, whereas the Canadian government hasn’t.
This can be seen in the massive backlog of air passenger complaints the CTA has received. It’s currently at around 70,000 files.
Lukács says rules like an automatic refund would be great if the federal regulator actually enforced it.
“We have reached a point in Canada where it doesn’t matter what the laws say because the regulator is not enforcing it,” he said.
So, how could Canadians see new, helpful policies like this enforced in the future?
“To achieve meaningful enforcement, there has to be some political will,” explained Lukács. “There has to be a government that is not cozy with the airlines and doesn’t feel beholden to the airlines for various political reasons.”
To attain that, he says voters need to talk to their MPs and make very clear that they want to see “laws that create consequences.”
Concerns surrounding air passenger rights are being heard in Canada’s Supreme Court.
Major airlines have appealed Canada’s Air Passenger Protection rules, arguing that the feds don’t have the right to impose rules on foreign carriers and that compensation amounts go beyond passengers’ losses.
Daily Hive has reached out to the Canadian Transportation Agency for comment.
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