What travellers can do if they're booked on Air Canada
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With the strike by the union representing Air Canada's flight attendants ending, Canadians are awaiting the resumption of flights after cancellations hit more than 500,000 travellers over recent days. The union and the company announced on Tuesday morning that a tentative agreement was reached and that the airline would gradually restart its operations the same day. Mark Nasr, Air Canada's chief operations officer, told Global News that mainline and Air Canada Rouge flights will begin operations at 4 p.m. eastern on Tuesday. 'So today, on Tuesday, we'll operate about 53 per cent of our flights globally,' he said. 'We're going to get customers moving, and that will ramp up gradually in the days ahead.' Nasr said it could take up to seven to 10 days before everything is back to normal, and flights will be operating both domestically and internationally. Story continues below advertisement 2:10 Air Canada, flight attendants reach tentative deal ending strike 'Those are critical for two reasons,' he said. 'We've got to get the crews abroad so that they can get their rest and come back because, right now, all of our crews are in Canada.' There will still be cancellations over the course of the next week even as flights resume, Nasr said. The airline says only people with confirmed bookings whose flights are operating should go to the airport, while those with cancelled flights will be offered the option of a full refund or future travel credit. Air Canada will also rebook customers on other airlines, including competitors, but due to peak summer travel season, capacity remains limited. Can you get a refund? The airline estimates 500,000 customers have been hit by disruptions from the strike and ground stop, as well as the time it will take to restart. Story continues below advertisement During the course of the strike, Global News heard from travellers who faced extra costs due to forfeiting cruises after a flight was cancelled or extending hotel stays due to being stranded in the country they were staying in. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'That's 500,000 people either departing Canada or trying to arrive back into Canada that have incurred tremendous expenses,' said Martin Firestone, president of Travel Secure Inc., a travel insurance brokerage. 'Either the ones who are leaving did not make that cruise, did not make that house rental, did not make the tour or that winery excursion, those are all costs that will never be recouped through anything Air Canada or the APPR is offering.' Under the Air Passenger Protections Regulations (APPR), a labour dispute within an airline is considered outside its control and doesn't require compensation. 4:42 Air Canada strike over But Air Canada is required to rebook you on the next available flight leaving within 48 hours after your scheduled departure, or if it can't, it must, 'at the passenger's choice,' refund or rebook the traveller free of charge, including on a competitor airline. Story continues below advertisement However, hotels, cruises and other costs won't be recouped unless travellers bought travel insurance. 'The bottom line is, had people purchased trip cancellation interruption at the time they bought the trip and were out non-refundable dollars, they would have most of these costs covered,' Firestone said. 'The ones who don't have it, they're going to be faced with at best the refund of an airline ticket, which is really the smallest part of the equation here.' He noted that customers who purchased insurance after Aug. 2 would likely be ineligible to make a claim 'with respect to labour disruption,' since it was known there was the possibility of a strike. Canadians in Europe may get more than refund If you're travelling home from Europe or the United Kingdom, you could see more than just a refund. Story continues below advertisement Eric Napoli, chief legal officer at AirHelp, an EU-based agency that helps passengers with the region's air passenger rights, told Global News a strike by Air Canada's flight attendants is considered within its control under EC261 and UK261 rules. This means if you received cancellation notice less than 14 days from your departure date, you could receive compensation of up to 600 euros or $970, in addition to a rebooking or refund. A flight of more than 3,500 kilometres, such as from Paris to Toronto, would qualify you for the full $970. 'So a Canadian would be entitled to monetary compensation for either the cancelled flight or for the fact that the flight is delayed by three or more hours,' Napoli said. Air Canada also has a 'duty of care' should a cancellation or delay occur, Napoli told Global News. 'So they're going to have to rebook people on other flights, and they're also going to have to support people in the interim, so that is finding them hotels to stay at Air Canada's cost, as well as basic food and other necessities,' Napoli said. Napoli said people can file for that compensation through either AirHelp or Air Canada itself on its claims portal or by contacting its customer service centre.
