Kelly McParland: Is Poilievre brave enough to take on Canada’s airlines?

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Not that he needs any help, given the aid he’s getting from the self-destructing Liberals, but if Pierre Poilievre wants an easy way to win votes, he could please a lot of Canadians by pledging to compel Canada’s airlines to treat their customers with greater respect.

It wouldn’t take much: for instance, a passenger rights bill with actual teeth, that places the onus on airlines rather than passengers and is rigorously enforced. A rights document does exist, but, as so often, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have talked big but delivered small: the backlog of passenger complaints to the Canadian Transportation Agency this year hit 71,000, a new record.

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And no wonder. In May, a survey by consumer analytics firm J.D. Power found Air Canada — Canada’s biggest airline, the one with the country’s name emblazoned on its aircraft — placed last among 11 North American airlines in customer satisfaction for business class and premium economy tickets, and ninth for economy class.

In January it was ranked last of 10 large airlines in on-time performance, meeting promised schedules just 63 per cent of the time.

In yet another ranking, this time by AirHelp, which offers assistance to passengers with compensation claims, Air Canada placed 91st out of 112 international carriers, just ahead of Vietnam Airlines.

Westjet does slightly better, but is no world-beater, while budget airlines struggle to make a dent in a system that is weighted towards the bigger carriers. Three low-cost ventures — Swoop, Lynx and Canada Jetlines — have quit service in the past 18 months, joining a list of earlier efforts that couldn’t survive the muscle of the bigger, richer twosome that dominate Canada’s skies with official acquiescence.

But while finances and predatory competition may be behind the dearth of air travel options, it’s the ill-treatment of paying customers that grates on so many nerves.

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The most recent blunder to attract attention involved the forced cancellation of a sold-out Toronto concert featuring British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who booked a last-minute ticket on Air Canada after another airline cancelled his flight, only to run into an agent who banned Kanneh-Mason’s cello — more than 300 years old and worth millions — from a seat that had been reserved for it.

The airline requires seats for instruments be bought at least 48 hours before take-off, with exceptions evidently unthinkable even in cases of passengers caught by circumstances beyond their control, or involving nothing more threatening than a cello.

The cello fiasco followed soon on a small-claims court decision ordering Air Canada to pay $10,000 to a Yukon couple the judge said were “treated shamefully” by the airline. After spending three years planning a vacation trip to Cuba, the couple  set off on their holiday only to be subjected to a series of diversions that ultimately found them in Mexico rather than Cuba, trying to salvage a few remaining days at their own expense in the face of bland indifference from the airline.

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Citing “numerous breaches” of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, Justice Katherine McLeod called it “extraordinary” that “without this small claims court action, no person-to-person communication would have taken place.”

“Moreover, there has been no acknowledgement of the difficulties suffered or even an apology for the complete lack of care.”

While plenty egregious enough, neither instance matches the sheer shoddiness of the treatment meted out to two women thrown off an Air Canada flight because they declined to sit in vomit.

The pair, headed from Las Vegas to Montreal, detected a foul smell from their designated seats. Turned out a previous occupant had been sick, and the crew hadn’t had time for a proper clean-up. Instead, according to a passenger seated nearby, they tried to mask it with coffee grounds and some perfume.  When the passengers remained reluctant — complaining the seatbelt remained wet and vomit was still visible — a pilot appeared on the scene to announce they could leave the plane of their own accord and expense, or be kicked off and placed on a no-fly list, punishment for not being pleasant enough about their situation. Next thing they knew, security arrived and hustled them off the plane.

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While the cello story made the New York Times, the vomit incident attracted CNN, the BBC, People magazine, YouTube, the Washington Post and other international outlets … valuable media acreage if you’re looking for attention, which in this case, of course, the airline wasn’t.

Air Canada eventually issued a statement acknowledging the two passengers “clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled,” and it was “addressing their concerns,” which hopefully included a big cheque.

But bad headlines are a recurring feature for Canada’s airlines, which were recently hauled before a House of Commons committee for questioning after eliminating fee-free carry-on baggage on some basic flights. Air Canada noted it was just the latest to start the practice after Porter and Westjet adopted similar policies. Porter CEO Michael Deluce said the fare offers a cheap option for passengers travelling with minimal baggage, while WestJet CEO Alexis Von Hoensbroech maintained Ottawa is to blame for high ticket costs thanks to the weight of taxes, fees, security costs, improvement levies and other charges it tacks onto fares.

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“The way (air travel) is being governed actually has created a sky-high cost structure at a below-average infrastructure,” he said.

He has a point, but if airlines are going to pass their costs onto customers, they have a duty to deliver services to match. Other countries do a far better job of protecting passengers. European Union regulations are clearly spelled out, cover 27 countries and numerous outposts, and specify that the “obligations that it creates should rest with the operating air carrier who performs or intends to perform a flight, whether with owned aircraft, under dry or wet lease, or on any other basis.”

Poilievre has accused corporate Canada of “sucking up” to Liberals and distanced himself from its embrace. A pledge to put real muscle into passenger rights would be an excellent way to put bite behind the boasting.

National Post

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