YVR rejects advertising from passenger-advocacy company
Airport says Flight Claim’s business conflicts with ‘guiding principles’
A company that helps passengers seeking compensation from airlines is crying foul after it was rejected as an advertiser by the Vancouver airport.
FlightClaim.ca sought to place ads through Astral Media, which has exclusive rights to advertising in the airport, and consulted with the Vancouver Airport Authority about the suitability of their ads.
The ads were intended to make passengers aware of Europe- and U.S.-based airlines’ obligation to provide compensation to passengers when their flights are disrupted and to offer Flight Claim’s services to secure that compensation, said the company’s CEO, Jacob Charbonneau.
“Most people are not aware that passengers on European airlines may claim up to 600 euros when their flights are delayed, cancelled or overbooked,” he said.
But YVR rejected the campaign, saying that Flight Claim’s business is in conflict with the airport’s “guiding principles.” No ads were submitted for review.
“The Airport Authority has sole jurisdiction and final approval of all advertising content at YVR,” Scott Norris, vice-president of commercial development, said in a statement. “We receive a high volume of advertising proposals and we evaluate each based on compatibility, mutual co-operation and respect for all airport users, including passengers, tenants, concessionaires, service-providers, suppliers and business partners. Flight Claim’s business does not currently align with these guiding principles and therefore they were not permitted to place advertisements at YVR.”
What rights passengers on Canadian airlines have and exactly when they’re due compensation isn’t clear cut.
Canada’s largest carriers — Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat — all adhere to a decade-old federal code of conduct, but your rights as a passenger are mainly contained in the so-called tariff conditions you agree to when you buy a ticket.
That “fine print” is peculiar to each airline and under Canadian law airlines are required to post their tariff wherever they do business.
When a customer isn’t satisfied with the resolution of an incident such as lost luggage or a cancelled flight, the Canada Transportation Act offers informal and formal mediation between passengers and airlines.
But the legal landscape will change dramatically when federal passenger-rights legislation is passed, possibly this fall. Or possibly not. The governing Liberals and the Senate are at odds over many details of the changes to the Canada Transportation Act proposed by Transportation Minister Marc Garneau.
New rules would forbid airlines from removing passengers involuntarily from over-booked flights and set compensation for lost bags. But the Senate and the Liberals are divided over how long delayed flights can keep passengers cooped up on the tarmac waiting to take off, among other things.
“Bill C-49 and the transportation act — which proposes a passenger bill of rights — is currently in front of the House and Senate,” noted Brock Penner, manager of corporate communications for YVR. “We look forward to supporting the bill once it is passed.”