- Transport Minister Marc Garneau on Monday directed the Canadian Transportation Agency to develop new regulation that protects the interests of Canadians while travelling by air.
- The ongoing pandemic has highlighted the gaps in current air passenger regulations, said the minister. He added that the existing framework did not foresee such large-scale flight cancellations or groundings of air carrier fleets across the world.
- In case of any such event in the future, the existing gaps in air passenger protection framework should be closed so that travelers are treated fairly.
- The transport agency will develop rules on the sticky issue of airline tickets’ refund.
- The new regulations will be applicable when airlines cancel flights for reasons beyond their control like the pandemic.
- It will also apply during cases when the carries is unable to complete a passenger's itinerary within a stipulated timeframe.
- The minister added that the new regulation should be fair to passengers, but also not impose any financial burden on air carriers that leads insolvency.
- The federal government is currently mulling the size and conditions of a package for Canada’s aviation sector and will contain strict conditions to protect the interests of Canadians such as air ticket refunds.