In the wake of newly-tabled legislation cracking down even further on airline flight delays and cancellations and beefing up air passenger protections and compensation, the National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC) released a report 11MAY, demanding that accountability for flight disruptions be shared among all relevant stakeholders, instead of airlines being left holding the bag - and the financial responsibility to compensate affected pax.
The NACC represents Canada’s largest air carriers (Air Canada, Air Transat, Jazz Aviation LP and WestJet). Its new report, entitled “Enhanced Accountability, Shared Responsibility and Services Standards in Canada’s Air Travel Ecosystem," was submitted to the Government of Canada. The report contains specific recommendations for Ottawa to achieve its stated goal of improving air travel and transparency for passengers and at the same time, defends airlines against sole responsibility for on-time performance.
In its report, the NACC insists that "all entities in the air travel ecosystem are held accountable through publicly reported service standards and public communications."
“Both the Minister of Transport and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities recently endorsed the concept of shared accountability and we share this view,” said Jeff Morrison, President and CEO of NACC. “The recommendations in this report come at an opportune time, and we look forward to ensuring that a national shared accountability framework is implemented.”
Recommendations include imposing service standards on industry players, ranging from airports to Nav Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency, requiring reporting of service performance from "all entities within the aviation ecosystem who play a role in such activities." and forcing all players to share responsibility for flight disruptions and compensate passengers out from a pool that is jointly funded.
“Canadians have made clear to the federal government that they expect a more reliable and transparent air travel experience. Implementing a shared accountability framework is a necessary step to achieve that,” said Morrison. “As the federal government continues to pursue efforts to strengthen the overall air travel system, NACC calls on the federal government to incorporate the findings of this report into future reforms.”
The report can be found on the NACC site here.
