Compensation may be limited for snow-affected YVR passengers: Advocate

Vancouver International Airport on Tuesday November 20th, 2022. (OMNI / CityNews Image)

Posted December 21, 2022 12:19 pm.

Last Updated December 21, 2022 12:23 pm.

As Tuesday’s snowstorm continues to leave many passengers with cancelled and delayed flights at Vancouver International Airport (YVR), one advocate says compensation for those affected may be limited.

The president of Air Passenger Rights, Gábor Lukács, says that because the weather is outside of airlines’ control, they won’t have to pay the kind of compensation they would in other circumstances.

The group of volunteers helps fliers learn what “fight rights are” and how to enforce them, according to its website.

“If we’re talking about passengers in Vancouver, or more broadly in British Columbia, who have been directly affected by weather, that’s clearly outside airlines control,” Lukács said.

He says that for bigger airlines like WestJet and Air Canada, passengers have a few options.

If you have a flight booking between now and December 26, and would like to proactively cancel your trip, full refunds to original form of payment are available through this form: https://t.co/ICKIDa5mq8

— WestJet (@WestJet) December 21, 2022

“Passengers have the right to get a refund in the original form of payment if they so choose, or for an alternate transportation. If the airline is unable to rebook them on its own network within 48 hours, then they have to rebook them on other competitor airlines,” Lukács explained.

For passengers stuck in connecting airports, he says they can get a refund to head back to their original airport instead of heading to their new destination.

“If you are stuck in any connecting point and you can choose a refund and transportation back to your point of origin,” he said.

Although he says weather is outside of airlines’ control, he says there should be plans in place to deal with the situation.

#YVR continues its recovery from #BCStorm. Check your flight’s status before going to the airport. Find options online if your flight is cancelled & a flexible change policy is also in place. https://t.co/npliepn2NF
1/2 pic.twitter.com/FQaZuHrCOw

— Air Canada (@AirCanada) December 21, 2022

“We do understand that a major snowstorm is something entirely outside of carriers’ control. It’s an extraordinary circumstance when the whole airport shuts down, and it’s not something we should be holding airlines accountable for,” he said.

“Airlines have to plan their schedules properly and have to have contingency plans for situations like this, which may involve moving out aircraft ahead of the weather moving crews ahead of the weather. For planning is the name of the game,” he added.

Passengers stuck on tarmac

Although much of the snow-related issues are out of the control of airlines, Lukács says it is unreasonable that passengers were held on planes for multiple hours.

One woman told CityNews that her plane was stuck on the tarmac for six hours, something that Lukács says is unreasonable.

“I was on Flair [Air] flying from Montreal, so it was a six-hour plane ride…When they got here, the plane couldn’t get up to the gate because a lack of de-icing or something…so we sat on the tarmac for another six hours,” the passenger told CityNews.

Lukács says that holding people on planes for an extended period of time could be a violation fliers’ rights.

“Keeping passengers on a plane for that long is a violation of their Passenger Protection Regulations. And it may also be even a violation of a criminal code as a forcible confinement,” he said.

He explains that after three hours on the tarmac, and up to three hours and 45 minutes, airlines are required to get passengers off of the plane.

“I don’t find it an acceptable excuse that they cannot get passengers off even if you cannot get a plane to a gate…Surely there is a way to board an aircraft, it’s possible. It may cost money. It may cost some resources, some effort, but the airline has to pay for it,” he said.