Compensation

[Old fella]

I wonder if compensation against the carriers is starting to get a tad out of hand, then again perhaps I am wrong.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-ca ... -1.5455807

[SkySailor]

I wonder if compensation against the carriers is starting to get a tad out of hand, then again perhaps I am wrong.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-ca ... -1.5455807

CBC? When it comes to wasting time, a person needs to know when to draw the line.

[digits_]

I wonder if compensation against the carriers is starting to get a tad out of hand, then again perhaps I am wrong.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-ca ... -1.5455807

Depends, if the rules say you are entitled to compensation, and the airline lies about the reason for the compensation, then the pax have a point.

It's a bit similar to "weather delays" that get abused. If I book a flight from Toronto to Mexico, is it really fair that a delay gets blamed on bad weather in Vancouver? Sure, the airlines can't control the weather, but they do control how many planes they position, how many spares they have available etc. If airlines would be responsible for delays due to weather, you would see the delays due to weather drastically decrease. Same with mechancial issues. Things will break unexpectedly, but if were flying planes that were 4 years old vs planes that were 30 years old, things would be different.

I have the impression that most people posting articles like this, are opposed to the idea that airlines have to pay for delays. If so, discuss that, but don't blame pax for trying to get the compensation they are owed.

[TheStig]

I have the impression that most people posting articles like this, are opposed to the idea that airlines have to pay for delays. If so, discuss that, but don't blame pax for trying to get the compensation they are owed.

I agree its odd that one person on the flight would receive compensation and not others? The problem is the legislation
I don't think the traveling public would really have the stomach to digest the true cost of an air travel system that penalized every delay due to weather upstream from their delayed flight.

It's not uncommon when its snowing in YYZ or YUL for it to take 40 minutes to an hour from push back to wheels up as opposed to 15-20 minutes. Both airports have excellent de-icing facilities, it's not a matter of operations failing or aircraft breaking, simply everything takes longer; arrival rates slow, loading unloading, fueling, snow clearing, gates are occupied longer. Thus, duty-day issues start arising, how many extra pilots should an airline be expected to have available? How many spare aircraft? I would guesstimate that on any given day over the holidays there are 100,000 Canadian travelers who were delayed more than an hour if it was snowing in YYZ & YUL, and probably 1,000,000 who spent an extra 2 hours driving to/from work, should they be able to sue the government for not providing adequate infrastructure?

[Old fella]

I have the impression that most people posting articles like this, are opposed to the idea that airlines have to pay for delays. If so, discuss that, but don't blame pax for trying to get the compensation they are owed.

I agree its odd that one person on the flight would receive compensation and not others? The problem is the legislation
I don't think the traveling public would really have the stomach to digest the true cost of an air travel system that penalized every delay due to weather upstream from their delayed flight.

It's not uncommon when its snowing in YYZ or YUL for it to take 40 minutes to an hour from push back to wheels up as opposed to 15-20 minutes. Both airports have excellent de-icing facilities, it's not a matter of operations failing or aircraft breaking, simply everything takes longer; arrival rates slow, loading unloading, fueling, snow clearing, gates are occupied longer. Thus, duty-day issues start arising, how many extra pilots should an airline be expected to have available? How many spare aircraft? I would guesstimate that on any given day over the holidays there are 100,000 Canadian travelers who were delayed more than an hour if it was snowing in YYZ & YUL, and probably 1,000,000 who spent an extra 2 hours driving to/from work, should they be able to sue the government for not providing adequate infrastructure?

Well you obviously work in the airline industry so I defer to your knowledge on how it all works. Permit my one comment though. If the public is insisting on compensation say at YYZ or YUl due delays because of the reasonable items you outlined, well your industry is quite creative in extracting a few bucks(from said public) here and there to cover itself off. Who can blame them.

[TheStig]

Agreed. Its the Government job to govern, and the regulators to regulate. However, these regulations from our government seem to be more about politics than providing travelers with safe reliable air travel. If anything its a barrier to new entrants (and increased competition) into the industry who require additional aircraft crews and could be financially crippled by these penalties, while the duopoly carriers have the resources to deal with them.

Since the US implemented similar penalties years before Canada, many American travelers had started flying with Canadian airlines because of our reliability. When faced with adverse weather most US airlines simply cancel their flights instead of facing the fines imposed. Is it better to arrive a few hours late or next week? This is the first winter that Canadian carriers have operated under these regulations and I'm sure they will spend a great deal of time looking at the operational performance and fines paid to find the balance between keeping the operation running and proactively canceling flights while keeping the regulator happy.

[Old fella]

Agreed. Its the Government job to govern, and the regulators to regulate. However, these regulations from our government seem to be more about politics than providing travelers with safe reliable air travel. If anything its a barrier to new entrants (and increased competition) into the industry who require additional aircraft crews and could be financially crippled by these penalties, while the duopoly carriers have the resources to deal with them.

Since the US implemented similar penalties years before Canada, many American travelers had started flying with Canadian airlines because of our reliability. When faced with adverse weather most US airlines simply cancel their flights instead of facing the fines imposed. Is it better to arrive a few hours late or next week? This is the first winter that Canadian carriers have operated under these regulations and I'm sure they will spend a great deal of time looking at the operational performance and fines paid to find the balance between keeping the operation running and proactively canceling flights while keeping the regulator happy.

Indeed, I say you are on to something(flight cancellations), no doubt see more of it in lieu of paying out excessive compensation due delays.