So your flight was canceled – here’s what you need to know about compensation

Regina resident Ryan Coulter was returning from a Tennessee vacation last weekend when the first leg of his trip — a flight from Nashville to Montreal — was diverted to Cincinnati due to thunderstorms.

Then forced to miss a handful of connections on his way back to Saskatchewan, landing in Vancouver where he was handed a brochure for hotels. He chose to forego a $700 cash outlay and instead hung out in a food court overnight until his flight home the next morning.

“You wish they could at least give out food stamps when something happens, like weather delays and so on [missed] connections,” he told CBC News.

He is one of several Air Canada passengers whose flights were canceled or delayed over the Canada Day weekend, with nearly 2,000 flights over a three-day period. Because the airline had no control over the weather, Coulter was not eligible for any form of compensation.

So what is a Canadian airline’s responsibility to passengers now that the summer travel season is in full swing? What are your rights as a traveller? Here’s what you need to know.

If a malfunction is beyond the control of the airline

Airlines must comply with the Canadian Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR). When a flight is delayed or cancelled, airlines must first inform passengers of the reason in clear language, whether they are in control of the situation or not. They must also ensure that the traveler completes their journey.

An Air Canada spokesperson told CBC News that the disruptions over the Canada Day weekend were due to inclement weather, particularly storms in the US and Montreal. It also mentioned the busy travel season.

“As with any system, it can slow down processes when operating at full capacity and take longer to restore when issues arise,” the statement said.

The APPR lists ten scenarios that count as beyond an airline’s control, including inclement weather, war, a medical emergency, airport problems or a security threat. If an earlier flight affected by something beyond the airline’s control later affects a connecting flight, you will also not be compensated for the second leg of your journey.

Airlines also do not have to provide food, drink or accommodation if they determine that a delay or cancellation was beyond their control. But one advocate says not to give up if an airline shrugs.

“Don’t take Air Canada’s word that it’s beyond their control,” said John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Center in Ottawa. “Because if you admit that something is beyond their control, they owe you no compensation.”

When a flight is delayed by more than three hours, the airline must rebook passengers on the fastest possible flight to their destination, if the traveler so desires.

But if your reason for travel has been rendered useless by a missed flight or a long delay, the airline must refund the ticket if a customer requests it, and make sure that person returns to their original location.

The airline must always state the reason for interrupting travel and what recourse an affected passenger may have against the carrier. Another rule under the APPR: expect an update every thirty minutes until you have a new departure time or route.

If the airline has a malfunction under control

If you are delayed by three hours or more or if your flight is cancelled, the airline must refund you or arrange a free replacement – either on the next available flight (with that airline or another), i.e. traveling on a comparable route within nine hours of the original departure time.

They can also provide transportation to another airport within a reasonable distance that has a suitable flight for you.

If your trip becomes useless due to the disruption, or if the arrangements offered do not meet your needs for any other reason, the airline must refund your ticket and take you on a flight back to your original location.

Refunds must be sent within 30 days of the day the airline becomes responsible for providing them, and they must be made in the original form of payment; the airline may also offer another form of reimbursement, such as a voucher, under certain conditions.

There are different levels of financial compensation, depending on how long your flight was delayed. For arrival delays between three and six hours, the fee is $400; between six and nine it’s $700; and for nine hours or more, it’s $1,000 — though those numbers may change if you’re traveling on a smaller airline.

What travelers can do

Once three days have passed since you arrived at your final destination, you can file a formal claim with Air Canada Customer Relations to obtain compensation. If 30 days pass and you are not satisfied with the handling of the claim, you may refer it to the Canadian Transportation Agency.

“There has been a minor regulatory change so the burden of proof is now clearly on the airline to show that something was beyond their control,” said Lawford.

As CBC News reported earlier this year, the CTA is facing a massive backlog after a chaotic holiday season saw the agency process more than 40,000 complaints as of March. New complaints must be resolved within three months, according to Lawford.

Nolan Magee, a Coquitlam, BC resident who traveled to Rome from Vancovuer in May after four rescheduled flights, three hours on tarmac and a day late departure without a hotel room voucher.

Air Canada gave no specific reason for the outage, citing “unexpected business or operational constraints” in one of the booking references Magee shared with CBC News. Magee said he was offended by the airline’s eventual $300 compensation offer.

“I think they are taking advantage of this because the only official reward a passenger has in this situation is to make an official complaint through the [CTA]’ Magee said. Air Canada knows they can refuse to pay what they are supposed to pay and [that] our only story is delayed by two years.”