Overview
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), the federal government agency that handles air passenger complaints, has recently proposed changes that would allow it to impose fines against passengers who share their confidential complaint decisions.
Currently, if a passenger and airline are unable to come to an agreement over compensation for an issue covered under the Air Passengers Protection Regulations (such as cancelled or delayed flights, or lost baggage) the passenger has the option of bringing their complaint to the CTA for review. The CTA will then analyze the evidence and positions of the passenger and airline and will make a final decision regarding the complaint. The newly proposed changes relate to the confidentiality of these decisions.
While the proposed changes have gained a lot of attention in recent months, the confidentiality of decisions issued by the CTA’s Air Travel Complaints Resolution Office is nothing new.
While applicants can discuss publicly the details of their travel journey and experience, the information exchanged in the Complaint Resolution Process cannot be made public. This information includes all the documents and information associated with the case that is submitted to the CTA, as well the contents of the applicant’s and airline’s submissions. Additionally, the Canada Transportation Act (the “Act”) already requires both parties to keep decisions confidential unless all parties agree otherwise.
The CTA is proposing amendments which would allow it to fine people who breach that confidentiality.
On January 29th, the CTA posted a notice that it is proposing amendments to the Canadian Transportation Agency Designated Provisions Regulations (DPR). The proposed amendments would allow the CTA to apply fines or administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) to enforce regulations and sections of the Act. At issue, is subsection 85.09(1) which pertains to the confidentiality of “All matters related to the process of dealing with a complaint.”
Under the proposed changes, fines could potentially be issued against passengers who share their complaints publicly despite the confidentiality requirement. The CTA has not announced any specifics about the fine amounts, but if the violation were assigned the lowest severity level under the agency’s monetary penalty framework, the initial fine would be $50 and could range up to a maximum of $5,000.
While the CTA has commented that penalties will not be applied automatically, it remains to be seen whether this will have any effect on the CTA’s handling of complaints.
The government was accepting feedback on the proposed amendments, with the feedback period ending on February 28th. For the proposed amendments to be accepted they will have to be approved by the federal cabinet and follow the regular process for the amendment of regulations through the Canada Gazette.
For more information please contact Diana Klassen or a member of our Aviation Practice Group.
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