The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has been ordered to release confidential e-mails between airline lobbyists and CTA CEO, Scott Streiner, after COVID-19-cancelled flights were not refunded, said Blacklock’s Reporter..Streiner was faulted by consumers’ advocates for not requiring airlines to provide passengers with cash refunds to the tune of $8.5 billion for cancelled flights at the start of the pandemic..“There were communications between third parties and the Agency,” wrote Federal Court Justice Mary Gleason, citing evidence suggesting executives “were involved in the discussion” to waive regulations at passengers’ expense..The court’s ruling came down on an application by Air Passenger Rights of Halifax ordering the release of all emails, memos and minutes of meetings from March 9 to March 25, 2020, between the CTA and airlines..CTA released a notice to consumers on March 25, 2020, stating the agency would not compel airlines to refund travellers for pre-paid tickets held by an estimated 3.87 million travellers..“Generally speaking, an appropriate approach in the current context could be for airlines to provide affected passengers with vouchers,” said the notice..Streiner, in a confidential letter to an airline lobbyist in August 2020, said complaints from passengers were “time-consuming” and proposed to “minimize the number of complaints” at the Agency..“I recognize how challenging and unprecedented this period is,” Streiner wrote in an August 7, 2020 letter to the National Airlines Council..“It’s a question of legal interpretation,” testified Streiner in December at the Commons transport committee, denying airlines had any legal obligation to refund passengers’ money..Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval disputed the claim pointing to section 122 of the Air Transportation Regulations which require “refunds for services purchased but not used, whether in whole or in part, either as a result of the client’s unwillingness or inability to continue, or the air carrier’s inability to provide the service for any reason.”.“You’re putting citizens in a situation where they are essentially involuntary or unwilling creditors to these huge corporations,” said NDP MP Taylor Bachrach, adding, “I wonder how you can possibly construe this as a fair situation.”.The president of Air Passenger Rights, Dr. Gábor Lukács, in 2018 testimony at the Senate transport committee said he considered the CTA so industry-friendly that “I wouldn’t trust them with a cup of water.”.The CTA “does not act in the public interest, it acts in the private interest of airlines,” said Lukács.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has been ordered to release confidential e-mails between airline lobbyists and CTA CEO, Scott Streiner, after COVID-19-cancelled flights were not refunded, said Blacklock’s Reporter..Streiner was faulted by consumers’ advocates for not requiring airlines to provide passengers with cash refunds to the tune of $8.5 billion for cancelled flights at the start of the pandemic..“There were communications between third parties and the Agency,” wrote Federal Court Justice Mary Gleason, citing evidence suggesting executives “were involved in the discussion” to waive regulations at passengers’ expense..The court’s ruling came down on an application by Air Passenger Rights of Halifax ordering the release of all emails, memos and minutes of meetings from March 9 to March 25, 2020, between the CTA and airlines..CTA released a notice to consumers on March 25, 2020, stating the agency would not compel airlines to refund travellers for pre-paid tickets held by an estimated 3.87 million travellers..“Generally speaking, an appropriate approach in the current context could be for airlines to provide affected passengers with vouchers,” said the notice..Streiner, in a confidential letter to an airline lobbyist in August 2020, said complaints from passengers were “time-consuming” and proposed to “minimize the number of complaints” at the Agency..“I recognize how challenging and unprecedented this period is,” Streiner wrote in an August 7, 2020 letter to the National Airlines Council..“It’s a question of legal interpretation,” testified Streiner in December at the Commons transport committee, denying airlines had any legal obligation to refund passengers’ money..Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval disputed the claim pointing to section 122 of the Air Transportation Regulations which require “refunds for services purchased but not used, whether in whole or in part, either as a result of the client’s unwillingness or inability to continue, or the air carrier’s inability to provide the service for any reason.”.“You’re putting citizens in a situation where they are essentially involuntary or unwilling creditors to these huge corporations,” said NDP MP Taylor Bachrach, adding, “I wonder how you can possibly construe this as a fair situation.”.The president of Air Passenger Rights, Dr. Gábor Lukács, in 2018 testimony at the Senate transport committee said he considered the CTA so industry-friendly that “I wouldn’t trust them with a cup of water.”.The CTA “does not act in the public interest, it acts in the private interest of airlines,” said Lukács.
