Air passenger complaint backlog hits new high, but agency says it's processing complaints faster

Canada's transportation regulator says it has made progress on addressing compensation claims against airlines since a new complaint resolution process was introduced last fall — but incoming complaints have pushed the backlog to a new high.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) — a quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator tasked with settling disputes between airlines and customers — has been dealing with a backlog of air passenger complaints since new regulations were introduced in 2019.

Those regulations require an airline to compensate passengers when a flight is delayed or cancelled for a reason that is within the airline's control. Passengers who feel they've been unfairly denied compensation by an airline can bring their cases to the CTA.

New measures to make the complaint process more efficient took effect in late September. The CTA says that in the months since then, it has been able to process more than 11,000 complaints — about the same number processed in the previous fiscal year.

"We're still maturing the process. We're still improving its efficiency, but as we've said we're already seeing improvements in productivity," said Tom Oommen, the agency's director general of analysis and outreach.

But despite the new process, the backlog now stands at a new high of more than 71,000 unaddressed complaints.

Rita McPherson of Oakville, Ont. is one of the thousands of Canadians still waiting to have their complaints heard.

McPherson filed her grievance with the CTA in November of 2022 after an airline refused to compensate her for a flight that was cancelled and rebooked for the next day.

"If they can't get you home on the day that they're supposed to, there should be some compensation," she told CBC News.

Despite waiting well over a year to have her complaint processed by the CTA, she still has over 7,500 people in the queue ahead of her.

"I can't really take that seriously," McPherson said. "It just seems to take way too long. It shouldn't take that long."

Oommen said Canadians should feel assured that their complaints will be addressed.

"Those complaints are going to be dealt with and they're going to be dealt with faster than originally anticipated," he said.

"We've just implemented this new process on September 30. Thousands of complaints have been closed and more will be closed in the near future."