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Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Air Canada customers stuck in limbo highlights competition, air passenger protection issues, experts say
Travellers are looking to get back on track with their itineraries after Air Canada reached an agreement with the union representing its flight attendants on Tuesday. But the fallout from the labour dispute, which scuttled summer travel for thousands of Canadians, highlights a glaring gap in Canada's air passenger protection system that is exacerbated by scarce competition. Nearly a week since Air Canada began cancelling flights ahead of the strike deadline, many are still struggling to get what they're owed in this labour disruption, including refunds and rebookings. 'Air Canada and its flight attendants have totally left us high and dry,' said Adam Rabiner of North Vancouver. Air Canada resumes flying after flight attendants' strike ends Air Canada's flight attendant strike disrupts travel for thousands of people, at home and abroad Mr. Rabiner said he was set to fly to Paraguay on an Air Canada flight on Thursday to chaperone his daughter while she played at the Junior Pan American Karate Championships. Instead, he spent $1,300 on non-refundable tickets with another airline after he wasn't able to reach Air Canada to find out whether his flight was still leaving as scheduled or get a refund or rebooking. 'Unless they do something to compensate us and communicate with us properly, I will refuse to book with them again,' he said. While Mr. Rabiner has a few other options – WestJet, Porter and Flair for domestic flights, for example – the selection is slim. And that's part of the reason why passengers are in this mess to begin with, consumer advocates say. Airlines work to add flights, make schedule adjustments in face of Air Canada labour dispute 'If we had more competition in Canada, the airlines would be inclined to treat their passengers better and their workers better,' said Tahira Dawood, staff lawyer at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. 'A lot of these problems would have not arose in the first place.' The rules meant to protect passengers' rights and their enforcement have also come under criticism. Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations require airlines to financially compensate passengers beyond rebookings or refunds when the disruption is within the airline's control and not related to safety. However, labour disruptions in Canada are considered outside the airline's control, which means passengers are owed little beyond the choice of a refund or rebooking. And even then, holding airlines to account has been difficult, Ms. Dawood said. When an airline fails to meet its obligations under Canada's Air Passenger Protection Rules, passengers have few avenues to turn to beyond an overburdened transportation regulator. (The Canadian Transportation Agency saw its backlog reach 87,000 complaints earlier this year.) Air Canada, the airline oligopoly and the abused consumer When it comes to flying with other carriers, alternatives in Canada are scarce. A June report from the Competition Bureau highlighted the issue and recommended opening up the domestic industry to foreign ownership, limiting mergers of carriers and removing operational barriers for smaller airports. Elsewhere, there are far stronger protections available to passengers in the event of labour disruptions. Strikes by an airline in both the European Union and Britain are considered within the airline's control, triggering compensation and duty of care obligations. 'In Europe and the U.K., the rule is simple,' said John Marzo, co-founder and chief executive officer of Airfairness, a travel tech and consumer protection company. 'If it's the airline's own employees on strike, you can claim compensation under EC261 or UK261.' Under EU Regulation 261, courts have consistently held that strikes by airline staff are not 'extraordinary circumstances,' said Baqa Rashdi, the managing director and senior lawyer at Law Booth in Mississauga, whose practice deals with criminal, family and civil litigation. His research into aviation law has been personal. Under the EU model, Air France paid him compensation quickly for a delay on a trip to Spain and openly acknowledged its mistake, he said. With Air Canada, 'I was essentially compensated with a credit toward a future flight.' Since labour relations by an airline in Europe are considered part of the carrier's ordinary business risks under its regulations, passengers are typically entitled to compensation when a flight is cancelled or delayed. In defying the back-to-work order, CUPE took a calculated risk that paid off The amount depends on flight distance and length of delay. But in general, the EU has put a clear price tag on passenger inconvenience: €250 (about $400) for short-haul, €400 for medium and €600 for long-haul flights, Mr. Rashidi said. The EU's framework has been effective in expanding consumer rights and creating predictable outcomes, reinforced by strong case law, he said. 'Canada's system has been criticized for carving out too many exceptions, strikes being one of the clearest examples.' While airlines often argue that giving out compensation at a high rate could drive up fares, Ms. Dawood referred to the Competition Bureau's July report that found higher Canadian fares are more closely tied to limited competition and concentrated ownership. The Competition Bureau's report also recommended removing exclusivity clauses on international flights that restrict competition and expanding Canadian Air Transport Security Authority services, which oversee specific elements of air safety, to smaller secondary airports. For example, the exclusivity clauses in ground leases at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport prohibit international flights at nearby secondary airports to limit competition. Removing these restrictions, among other barriers, would give passengers and workers more options, the report found. For now, passengers in Canada are left to suffer the effects of poor enforcement of air protection rights and an uncompetitive industry said Geoff White, executive director and general counsel at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. 'This will take a legislative fix – this is fundamentally a failure of competition,' Mr. White said. 'When it comes to Canada's addiction to monopolies, it's a matter of political will.'
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
New report suggests relief could be on the way for Calgary's housing market
A new report using AI-driven analysis suggests Calgary's housing market could see some relief. The study out of Concordia University looks at how policy reform could impact Canadian housing supply in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, combining the latest data on housing starts and immigration along with risk factors like tariffs and supply chain volatility. The team behind the report says AI allows researchers to more easily analyze evolving data that can then be used to inform policy changes. 'Things change fast but every time there is new information we go back to the model and improve the model all the time and see where we are heading,' says Erik Yonder, one of the researchers at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia. 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 Researchers say aggressive housing starts, coupled with changing immigration policies, are narrowing the gap between supply and demand in the Calgary housing market. The median home price in Calgary saw a peak in 2024 at roughly $740,000, but the study suggests it could fall by more than $100,000 in the next two years. Story continues below advertisement But researchers warn any softening in the market across the country could be short-lived. 'The demand cut is temporary,' says Yonder. 'We'll bring in three- to four-hundred thousand people again by the year 2026, which means the demand will come back.' Yonder says he hopes this data will help inform local development policy and change building permits to speed up the rate of housing starts, to help lower prices. Brian Hahn with BILD Calgary says the city is already seeing record starts. 'Year over year compared to 2024 which was a record year for housing starts, we are 25 per cent ahead of last year's pace to the end of July,' says Hahn. Hahn says the housing industry is on the cusp of changing technology to include prefabricated homes which is contributing to the increase in supply, along with a shift in perception of careers in trades meaning there is more labour to build homes. But Hahn does warn that momentum could run out if there is nowhere to build homes. 'We've done really good on the housing supply, but we're going to turn the corner here soon and run out of lot of supply,' explains Hahn. 'We're going to need to turn our attention to adding lot supply in both established areas and new communities.' Story continues below advertisement Meanwhile the Concordia report suggest Calgary home prices should stabilize to between $650-730,000 by 2032 if supply can keep up with demand.
Vancouver Sun
3 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Air Canada flight attendants win breakthrough with pay for pre-flight work
Air Canada's contract offer to its 10,500 flight attendants includes payment for work done before the plane is in motion, a response to a major complaint by employees of the country's biggest airline. The airline and the union representing cabin crew struck a tentative agreement early Tuesday morning, ending a three-day strike that caused the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights. Union members must still vote on the offer, which includes 60 minutes of pre-flight pay for crew on narrowbody planes and 70 minutes on widebody jets, a union official said by phone. The pay for that work will start at 50% of flight attendants' hourly rate in year one of the contract, rising to 70% by year four, said the official with the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. An Air Canada flight attendant's in-flight pay can be C$63 ($45) per hour after a decade of service, or C$41 an hour at its Rouge budget brand after fewer years, analysts at Jefferies said in a note published prior to the strike. The new provisions represent a breakthrough for Air Canada's flight staff. The union garnered much public sympathy during the dispute because it built a campaign, including television advertisements, to make people aware that they weren't paid for all of their hours. On the picket lines, they chanted: 'Hey hey, Rousseau — unpaid work has got to go' — a reference to Chief Executive Officer Michael Rousseau. To seal the agreement, Air Canada enriched its offer on pre-flight pay. Before, the airline said it was willing to pay for 45 minutes on narrowbody planes and 60 minutes for widebody aircraft at 50% of workers' usual hourly rate, said the union official, speaking on condition they not be identified speaking about matters that aren't public. 'The new flight attendant contract could trigger a similar move at other Canadian airlines,' said Francois Duflot, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. 'Not just on the monetary part of it, but also on the ground-pay part of the deal.' Rival airline WestJet's agreement with cabin crew expires Dec. 31 and 'I would suspect similar demands,' he said. Air Canada declined to comment. Mark Nasr, its chief operations officer, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that 'ground pay is settled' in what he called an 'industry-leading deal.' Moody's cut its rating outlook on Air Canada to stable from positive, saying the new agreement 'will contribute to increasing wage costs for the company and be a headwind for margins.' The company's debt is rated Ba2. The Canadian government announced Monday that it would launch an investigation into unpaid work in the airline industry. Less than 12 hours later, the union and the airline reached their deal. Duflot suggested Air Canada may be following moves at other airlines to widen the scope of flight attendant pay. In 2022, Delta Air Lines Inc. became the first US carrier to pay its flight attendants during boarding time. Major US airlines negotiated multiyear contracts with their crews over the past 18 months, and some attendants secured boarding pay in the new deals. United Airlines Holdings Inc. is still negotiating. Now, 'unions at some US airlines may now look at Air Canada for their next move,' he said. 'Unions always look at what is going on in their neighboring countries.' —With assistance from Mary Schlangenstein. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
