OTTAWA — Transport Minister Marc Garneau says he’s following the situation of Canadians still trying to get their money back from cancelled flights due to COVID-19, but is standing by his decision — at least so far — not to force airlines to offer refunds.
During a House of Commons committee appearance on Tuesday, Garneau was grilled by opposition MPs about why he hasn’t ordered airlines to offer refunds, as opposed to vouchers or credits for future flights. But Garneau said airlines have been financially devastated by the pandemic and he’s trying to avoid the companies from collapsing.
“We are following the situation,” Garneau said. “I’m encouraging the airlines to provide the best possible compensation to their passengers when circumstances permit. Some of these airlines are not in a position to do this at this time.”
He said Canadians should carefully examine the terms of their ticket, and said the contract is often not as “clear cut” as one might think when it comes to cancellations.
“In the best of all worlds, we’d like to make sure that all passengers are happy,” he said. “But the airlines have been hammered by this pandemic. Some of them are not operating at all, and some of them are operating at below 10 per cent, and yet they’re still facing serious fixed costs.”
NDP MP Taylor Bachrach responded by pointing out that many Canadian families “are hurting financially as well, and the cost of an airline ticket can be quite steep.”
Garneau said he couldn’t give a precise figure on how much money Canadian airlines are currently holding in prepaid tickets for cancelled flights, saying it’s confidential for commercial reasons, but acknowledged it’s a “large amount.”
“There are billions of dollars involved here with vouchers that airlines have committed to passengers,” he said.
He also pushed back on a comment from Bachrach that Canada is out of step with other countries when it comes to forcing refunds.
“It’s often brought up that Europe and the United States have taken a different approach,” Garneau said. “I would ask you to look more closely at individual countries and airlines, I think you’ll find that the reality is not quite the way that you presented it.”
That’s a reference to the fact that many European countries protested the European Commission’s rule that refunds must be offered, and the Commission later issued suggestions for how vouchers could be made more attractive.
There are various ongoing attempts to fight Canadian airlines over their lack of refunds and to put pressure on the government to step in.
That includes proposed class action lawsuits by passengers with cancelled flights, and a House of Commons petition organized by Montreal-based consumer rights group Option Consommateurs. Passenger rights advocates have also argued that existing case law means Canadians are already entitled to refunds.
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