Canadians’ air passenger rights: what they may be entitled to after a U.S. ground stop

The Story

A Friday grounding of U.S. air traffic has triggered disruptions for some Canadian travellers, including cancellations and delays affecting plans for trips to and from the United States.

Under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, passengers can seek rebooking if their flight is cancelled or subject to a lengthy delay. Airlines must rebook travellers on the next available flight operated by them or a partner airline that departs within 48 hours of the passenger’s original departure time.

Gabor Lukacs, an air passenger rights advocate, said that for international travel such as trips to and from the U.S., if airlines cannot find a flight within the 48-hour window, they are required to rebook passengers on a competing airline.

Lukacs said additional protections and compensation apply when disruptions are within an airline’s control, but that this was not the case with the U.S. grounding. He described the nationwide grounding of U.S. air traffic as an “extraordinary circumstance” outside airline control.

Air Canada said it cancelled about 250 flights, affecting some 27,000 passengers, after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued the ground stop order on Friday and halted all U.S. flights for more than four hours. Porter Airlines and WestJet said it will likely take the whole weekend for flights to return to normal schedules.

Lukacs noted that travellers flying between Canada and the U.S. are covered by both countries’ air passenger regulations, but Canada’s protections are stronger. For Canadians stuck in the U.S. who had to book hotels and cover additional meal costs because of delays, he said airlines are not required to repay those expenses.

The U.S. government said the ground stop order was issued on Friday after new technology was added to the nation’s air traffic control system, overloading antiquated equipment and causing intermittent communications and radar gaps. The matter is under investigation.

Lukacs said travellers who believe their airline has not met its obligations under the law should document communications and consider pursuing remedies through small claims court.