The Vancouver Sun reports in its Saturday edition that air passengers delayed by the shortage of air traffic controllers in Metro Vancouver last week may be entitled to some compensation from airlines.
The Sun's Joanne Lee-Young writes, however, that there is a maze of rules depending on the type of flight and other factors.
These include whether a passenger is travelling within Canada or internationally. Another factor is whether the airline knew in advance about the problems or if they learned about them at the last minute, according to Gabor Lukacs, founder of Air Passenger Rights.
Passengers travelling within Canada are protected only by Transport Canada's air passenger protection regulations, which Mr. Lukacs described as "broken and inferior" compared with standards such as those in Europe.
Mr. Lukacs said disruptions caused by a shortage of air traffic controllers would be considered outside the carrier's control and passengers would be owed nothing under the rules for in-Canada flights.
"No meals, no accommodation and certainly not lump-sum compensation."
The EU261 regulation in Europe would provide compensation for meals and accommodation in a similar situation.
© 2025 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.