Public hearings are underway over an incident at the Ottawa International Airport that left passengers stranded on the tarmac for hours, with little water and food.
On July 31, passengers on two Air Transat flights — one from Brussels and the other from Rome — were diverted to the Ottawa airport because of poor weather. The planes remained stranded on the tarmac for between four and six hours.
Passengers were not allowed to leave the airplane, had little water, no air-conditioning and some even phoned 911.
The Ottawa International Airport said Air Transat ignored numerous offers by airport staff to provide assistance to the stranded passengers and said “the air crew was non-communicative.”
But Air Transat blamed the airport and said “a confluence of factors beyond its control” resulted in its inability to allow passengers to leave the plane or offer a “minimum level of comfort.”
WATCH: Who’s to blame for the Air Transat “nightmare” in Ottawa?
After the incident, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) opened an inquiry.
“Given the seriousness of the situation, the Agency, on its own initiative, decided to initiate an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the delay of these two Air Transat flights,” CTA said in a statement.
Public hearings are very rare
This type of public hearing by the CTA — especially one that is broadcast live on a webcast — is very rare, according to Gabor Lukacs, an air passenger rights advocate.
Lukacs believes social media had a lot to do with it — as many videos and images of the incident were shared widely. In some of the videos, you hear children crying and see distraught passengers fanning themselves with magazines because the air conditioning was not on.
The inquiry, which kicked off Wednesday in Ottawa, will hear testimonies from 29 passengers directly involved with the incident as well as Air Transat employees. During the first day of the hearing, many passengers talked about the lack of food, water and air.
The CTA said the goal of the inquiry is to figure out of if Air Transat properly applied its tariff during this incident. In other words, is the airline responsible?
Lukacs believe this hearing won’t amount to much.
“The CTA has a dismal record of enforcement,” Lukacs said. “This hearing is really only about trying to create a false impression that the Agency cares.”
The best way to solve the issue is to fine Air Transit, he said.
Air Transat violated its own rules
The CTA has the option to fine Air Transat because the airline violated its own international tariffs (terms and conditions).
Rule 5.2 of Air Transat’s international tariff requires the airline to:
- Provide drinks and snacks if there is a delay onboard.
- Offer passengers the option to leave the plane if the delay exceeds 90 minutes.
- Provide meal vouchers if the flight is delayed more than four hours.
Failing to comply with the obligations is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 under the Canadian Transportation Agency Designated Provisions Regulations.
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“Since there were 336 passengers on board Flight TS157 who were denied their basic rights, the Agency could fine Air Transat 336 times $10,000, which is $3.36 million,” Lukacs said.
A spokeperson from Air Transat said the company will not comment until the hearing is over.
A spokesperson for the CTA told Global News the inquiry process will be conducted “ass quickly as possible, but the CTA will take the time required to gather all the facts.”
“Should the CTA find that Air Transat did not properly apply the applicable terms and conditions set out in its international tariff, it could require Air Transat to pay compensation for any expenses incurred by passengers and order the carrier to take other corrective measures,” the spokesperson said.
The CTA will also determine if Air Transat’s rules are reasonable, and if no, it could require that they be changed .
Passenger complaints on the rise
Air passengers complaints have been increasing since 2012, according to the CTA.
But there has been some resolution to the complaints. For example in 2016/2016, there were 3,636 new and old complaints from air passengers. The CTA said it was able to resolve 2,752 of them. This can be done by a facilitator, mediator or adjudication.
In 2016/2017, Air Canada has the most complaints and WestJet came in second.
- Air Canada: 1,556
- WestJet: 166
- Air Transat: 141
- Sunwing: 51
- Porter Airlines: 43
Ottawa’s proposed passenger bill of rights
In May, Transport Minister Marc Garneau introduced legislation to create a new passenger bill of rights, which will give travellers a better idea of when airlines will have to compensate them.
In a statement, Garneau said the planned passenger rights regime would create “clear and fair standards” for how airline passengers have to be treated in cases of long delays on the tarmac, over booking, cancellations or lost or damaged baggage.
Airlines will not be able to charge parents a fee to be able to sit next to their children, and carriers will also have to have standards for transporting musical instruments.
The Liberals plan to pass their bill, known as C-49, before the end of the year with hearings on the legislation set to begin in early September even before the House of Commons officially resumes sitting after its summer break.
WATCH: Air Canada passenger denied boarding flight
With files from the Canadian Press
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