As a consumer, it has always been my practice to get the best possible deal. Whether it be electronics, clothes, optional grocers, you name it – I have always waited for sales and discounts before purchasing. Impulse control has never been a problem for me. 

However, there is one area in which consumers have little power, and that is in the airline industry, especially when it comes to the misnamed Air Passenger Protection Regulations. Enacted ostensibly to protect the Canadian flying public, it is supposed to, among other things, provide compensation for flight delays within the control of the airlines, And therein lies the rub.

If you have ever tried to file a claim, you will know that the deck is stacked against you, because the standard airline response is that the circumstances necessitating the delay were beyond the airline’s control. and even if you have grounds to appeal, the tribunal’s backlog would give you pause.

A personal experience perhaps best illustrates how the cards are stacked against the flying public.  In 2025,  we were travelling to Cuba via Air Canada, but were delayed on the tarmac for close to three hours and 40 minutes. The initial reason was the netting in the plane’s cargo bay required repair. Once that was effected, a new problem arose: a frozen water line. (That problem, by the way, was never fixed, bottled water in the washrooms being the immediate solution.) The third reason  was the delay meant some of the crew exceeded their hours, and had to be rotated out.

While waiting for the flight to depart, we were issued food vouchers that could only be used in the next 72 hours, within the air terminal. Since we were not allowed off the plane, that was a useless measure; instead, we were given protein bars by the flight attendants that were seriously out of date.

Passengers were understandably upset, and most intended to file for compensation, as did I. However, that request from the airline was immediately denied upon our return, the stated reason being the circumstances were beyond their control. There was no forum in which to contest this finding, and ultimately the only recourse would have been to go to small claims court, which would have necessitated a payment of $108. I decided to cut my losses at that point, since success in court was far from assured. 

Why am I writing about this today? An article in The Star suggests that even these anemic regulations are just too much for airlines to endure.

WestJet has been trying to make the case that removing passenger rights regulations would lead to more competition among airlines, according to an internal government document. 

A briefing note, prepared for Canada’s associate deputy minister of finance Alison O’Leary, reveals that the country’s second-largest air carrier requested a private meeting with the Department of Finance Canada last October to discuss how to “ensure aviation continues to drive growth and opportunities for Canadians.”  

The document, obtained via Access to Information and Privacy, says that WestJet has criticized the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) for increasing airlines’ operating costs. 

“WestJet is of the view that competition in the industry has improved since pre-pandemic, citing the rise of smaller airlines, such as Flair and Porter,” the document reads. “However, it argues that lower fees on air tickets and the removal of the APPR would result in more competition.”

This claim about competition is risible, according to air passenger rights Gabor Lukacs.

 “If I was WestJet’s CEO, I would not want any competition. I would want to make it as monopolistic or duopolistic for maximizing profit,” he told the Star. 

“There are a number of reasons why passenger rights are important,” Lukács went on. “If someone genuinely cares about the Canadian airline industry and the Canadian tourism industry remaining competitive, then that’s one very good reason for (passenger rights) because they have it in Europe.”

Lukács added that Canadian airlines will be more attractive to consumers if they offer the same passenger protections as European ones. 

And so it goes. My entire life I have fought for my rights when I think they have been abused, but I am doubtful that this is a winnable battle. I expect no improvements, only diminution, of air passenger rights under our current federal government, which has been on a mission since the election to extol the private sector, even at the expense of ‘ordinary’ Canadians.