Representatives from Sunwing, Air Canada and WestJet gave their mea culpa for the setbacks of the holiday season by apologizing to travelers during their appearance in the Bundestag committee on Thursday.
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They said they were in direct daily contact with the Transport Minister’s office during what is commonly referred to as a “crisis”.
In the case of Sunwing, which was particularly harshly criticized by Minister Omar Alghabra and his clients, it took until January 5 for a first real meeting with the minister remotely.
From the start, Sunwing President apologizes to travelers for the holiday chaos. He then blames the temperature, the lack of staff and the lack of infrastructure at certain airports, particularly when it comes to de-icing. #Polcan @tvanews pic.twitter.com/xpSIyUdrdg
— Olivier Ferron-Boisse (@OBoisse) January 12, 2023
The airline, which specializes in sun destinations, says it received around 7,000 complaints, including claims for damages, between December 15 and 31 and canceled 67 flights.
The three airlines have cited the fierce snowstorm in the east and the freezing cold in the west as triggers for the thousands of canceled and delayed flights around the Christmas period.
David Rheault, Air Canada’s vice president of government and community relations, even mentioned an instance of “force majeure”.
“The recent travel disruptions are the result of major weather events and not a protective regime in the world, including the [Règlement sur la protection des passagers aériens]provides that air carriers should not be held liable for financial compensation in the event of force majeure,” he said.
On this subject, the NDP, through the voice of its traffic critic Taylor Bachrach, calls for an improvement in the regulations, in particular to make financial compensation “the norm and not the exception”.
Despite the apologies, airline representatives on the committee expressed some irritation at the new rules, which came into effect in September after a disastrous summer.
They see themselves as the only ones who have to bear the brunt of all the pitfalls in the world of air travel, when problems are sometimes related to customs queues or airport staffing shortages,” said Andrew Gibbons, WestJet’s vice president of external affairs.
The latter does not believe that “the government’s priority” should be to increase penalties against “the only group that needs to be held accountable”, the airlines.