Air passenger complaint backlog hits new high, but agency says it's processing complaints faster

Canada's transportation regulator says it has made progress on addressing compensation claims against airlines since a new complaint resolution pro‐ cess was introduced last fall - but incoming com‐ plaints have pushed the backlog to a new high.

The Canadian Transporta‐ tion Agency (CTA) - a quasi-ju‐ dicial tribunal and regulator tasked with settling disputes between airlines and cus‐ tomers - has been dealing with a backlog of air passen‐ ger complaints since new regulations were introduced in 2019.

Those regulations require an airline to compensate passengers when a flight is delayed or cancelled for a reason that is within the air‐ line's control. Passengers who feel they've been unfair‐ ly denied compensation by an airline can bring their cases to the CTA.

New measures to make the complaint process more efficient took effect in late September. The CTA says that in the months since then, it has been able to pro‐ cess more than 11,000 com‐ plaints - about the same number processed in the previous fiscal year.

"We're still maturing the process. We're still improving its efficiency, but as we've said we're already seeing im‐ provements in productivity," said Tom Oommen, the agen‐ cy's director general of analysis and outreach.

Backlog of complaints hits 71,000

But despite the new process, the backlog now stands at a new high of more than 71,000 unaddressed com‐ plaints.

Rita McPherson of Oakvil‐ le, Ont. is one of the thou‐ sands of Canadians still wait‐ ing to have their complaints heard.

McPherson filed her griev‐ ance with the CTA in Novem‐ ber of 2022 after an airline refused to compensate her for a flight that was cancelled and rebooked for the next day.

"If they can't get you home on the day that they're supposed to, there should be some compensation," she told CBC News.

Despite waiting well over a year to have her complaint processed by the CTA, she still has over 7,500 people in the queue ahead of her.

"I can't really take that se‐ riously," McPherson said. "It just seems to take way too long. It shouldn't take that long."

Oommen said Canadians should feel assured that their complaints will be addressed.

"Those complaints are going to be dealt with and they're going to be dealt with faster than originally antici‐ pated," he said.

"We've just implemented this new process on Septem‐ ber 30. Thousands of com‐ plaints have been closed and more will be closed in the near future."

Record number of in‐ coming complaints

Oommen said the main rea‐ son the backlog has re‐ mained high is the number of complaints still coming in.

Data provided to CBC News by the CTA shows that for the 2023-24 fiscal year, the agency received more than 43,000 complaints - the highest number in a given year since the current air passenger protection regime came into force in 2019.

Oommen said new regula‐ tions currently being hashed out should address the high number of incoming com‐ plaints.

A draft of the proposed changes released by the CTA last summer would put more of a burden on airlines to prove that "exceptional cir‐ cumstances" caused a flight delay or cancellation. The new rules, expected to be fi‐ nalized this year, also would allow the CTA to recover some or all of the costs of processing complaints from airlines.

"Those processes and changes together are what are going to give us the big dent and the eventual elimi‐ nation of the backlog," Oom‐ men said.

Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez's office said the government has made in‐ vestments - including $75.9 million last year - to ensure the backlog is cleared.

"Canadians work hard and save up to travel. They expect to leave on time, and they expect good service standards from airlines," a statement from Rodriguez's office said.

"When that doesn't happen, Air Passenger Pro‐ tection Regulations are there to protect Canadians. The CTA has an important role to play in enforcing these regu‐ lations."

Oommen said that he ex‐ pects the agency will be able to process complaints at an even faster pace as com‐ plaint resolution officers gain more experience with the new system.

"We're going to keep im‐ proving the productivity of the complaint resolution of‐ fice as the officers gain expe‐ rience, as they have new tools, new adapted processes," he said.