For anyone who has begrudgingly coughed up a whack of cash to fly within Canada, Monday’s news that flight prices are expected to fall this year is welcome.
Average fares fell globally last year, according to The International Air Transportation Association, and competitive pressure within the industry along with cheaper fuel are expected to further drive the savings for consumers in 2016.
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However, Canada’s airline industry has a long way to go before true change will make an impact on pocketbooks, one passenger advocate warns.
Strict regulations for airlines along with increased competition is the only path to lower prices for Canadian consumers, passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs says.
For starters, Canada needs a solid passenger bill of rights, which currently does not exists, he says.
“Canada is very much behind the rest of the world when it comes to air passenger rights.”
Meanwhile, Lukacs says the Canadian Transportation Agency has turned from “watchdogs of industry to lapdogs,” failing to keep passenger rights as its main priority.
He says the real root of the problem is lack of enforcement within the industry.
“As long as we have a situation that the very body which Parliament entrusted with enforcing the rights of passengers is colluding with the industry it is supposed to regulate, obviously very little can be done.”
And even if airfares are dropping, Lukacs says airlines are boosting bottom lines by charging extra fees.
“We are already paying a lot of other fees: baggage fees, seat fees, perhaps carry-on fees, some airlines charge for issuing a boarding pass,” Lukacs says.
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“There is a serious concern that what is going to drop is what’s being advertised, but all these various add-ons that make up what you actually end up paying, at the end of the day, is going to increase.”
Canada’s major airlines have been largely unapologetic about the added fees.
“All of those drivers are part of our business plan going forward, with or without fuel,” Calin Rovinescu, chief executive of Air Canada, said in May 2015.
“We’ve already indicated that on baggage fees and on some of these other ancillary charges. We think these are important drivers of the business model, and they’ve been accepted broadly in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, as well,” Rovinescu said.
As for the drop in fuel prices, WestJet head Gregg Saretsky said in February 2015 the airline planned to hold onto savings from cheaper fuel, instead of slashing fares.
“As long as the demand environment stays strong, we’re planning on allowing that [extra cash] to move right to our bottom line,” the executive said.
That demand has tapered off, with the Alberta-based airline announcing in February of this year it would be slashing costs as demand travel waned.
While the airlines continue to go about their business, Lukacs says Canadians need to get vocal.
He suggests contacting local MPs and demanding a review of the Canada Transportation Act and the creation of a passenger bill of rights.
“You need to start somewhere,” Lukacs says.
For its part, the Canada Transportation Agency says in 2016-17 it will review and ensure the “regulations, guidelines, and codes it applies take into account evolving industry practices and customer expectations, avoid unnecessary administrative burdens, and facilitate timely identification and correction of instances of non-compliance.”
In a statement, agency chair and CEO Scott Streiner says efforts will be “redoubled” to keep stakeholders and the public better informed of their rights and responsibilities.
With files from Jamie Sturgeon
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