Liberals promise more rights for air passengers: how will it affect you?

Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau is promising to introduce legislation to help irritated air travellers who are bumped off flights, stuck on a tarmac or have their luggage lost.

Garneau says the Liberals will introduce the “Air Travellers Passenger Rights Regime” in the coming months, which will provide clear minimum requirements for when Canadians are eligible for compensation.

“Some of the measures we are looking at include compensation standards for passengers denied boarding due to factors within the carrier’s control, or in case of lost or damaged baggage,” the minister said Thursday morning in Montreal. “This will create a more predictable and reasonable approach that will ensure that Canadians understand better what their rights are as they travel by air.”

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Garneau said the passenger rights bill will be balanced to ensure airlines don’t suffer “undue burden” and can remain competitive.

Air-passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs, who has pursued dozens of complaints against airlines, said while it’s a victory for “all travellers in Canada” he will be following closely in the coming months for more details from Ottawa.

Lukacs said that currently airlines are required to provide “denied boarding compensation” to bumped passengers but the amount varies between air carriers.

“It’s a great idea to have one standard because it eliminates the need to go airline by airline,” he said.

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He added that under the Montreal Convention – an international treaty which Canada has signed – airlines are liable for damaged or lost baggage on international flights. Under the convention, there is a maximum liability of just under $8,700 for damage and just under $2,100 for loss.

“The Montreal convention already applies to international travel, so I’m not sure what the Liberals are going to do in that regard,” Lukacs said.

Thursday morning’s announcement from the transport minister was short on details, but it’s not the first time a bill of rights for air passengers has been proposed.

Several New Democrat MPs have suggested similar airline passenger bills of rights in the past.

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In 2009, Manitoba New Democrat MP Jim Maloway introduced a private members bill that proposed that customers stuck on a plane on a runway for more than an hour should be entitled to $500 in compensation for each hour they wait.

Travellers would also be offered $500 if they were bumped from flights of under 1,500 kilometres; $800 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres and $1,200 for flights over 3,500 kilometres.

Other jurisdictions already have mandatory policies for when airlines overbook or mishandle a passenger’s luggage.

In the U.S, compensation is as much as $650 for delays less than two hours, and as much as $1,300 for delays over two hours. In the European Union, compensation ranges from roughly $370 to nearly $900, depending on the length of the flight and the delay caused to passengers.

“The main point of having a passenger bill of rights is to normalize across the country and across foreign borders what passengers can expect from air travel services,” said Todd Crawford, a chief economist with the Conference Board of Canada.

Crawford said the “devil will be in the details” regarding the Liberal legislation, but the impact on the airline industry should “relatively small.”

The Liberals also promised Thursday to loosen foreign ownership rules that would allow foreign companies to own up to 49 per cent of an airline in Canada, a jump from the current cap of 25 per cent. The measures would aim to help drive down the cost of air travel.