We thought we’d seen it all with the chaos at the airports this summer. The holidays told us it was small beer.
Days and nights are waiting for a flight that no longer exists. Radio silence from customer service. Too many travelers’ nightmare has been extended. And yet the transport minister had said the problems had been solved.
Omar Alghabra now admits we need to do better. That’s an understatement.
Because in Canada, travelers are held hostage to a system at the service of corporations.
What rights?
The year 2019 should mark a big hit. Eventually, Canada entered modern times and adopted a charter of air passenger rights.
What has changed? Not much.
The reason is simple. Unlike in the United States, Europe or Australia, the burden of proving the success of a complaint rests on the passenger’s shoulders! It is up to the traveler to obtain all evidence that it is the fault of the carrier, who often hides under the umbrella of “air security”.
But real life isn’t the Bible: it’s rare for David to win against these Goliaths.
Unsurprisingly, the level of sanctions imposed in recent years is ridiculous. It is cheaper for carriers to pay than to upgrade their services.
And the pre-Christmas weather bomb?
It was planned for a week! A company that cares about its customers would have made sure there was scope, support teams, plans B.
And these aren’t the flights we cancel year-round because they’re not busy enough to maximize profit.
Ultimately, the leeway is knowing that we can still treat travelers because they have no other alternative solution.
We will not row all the way to France or the Caribbean to avoid the plane!
And the train? Tell the passengers who spent 18 hours aboard a VIA Rail train without food due to a CP derailment!
Geography
Yes, the government promises us that one day we will have “world-class rail transport”. Should rather be “temporary trains”, because that’s the only perspective offered by the high-frequency train project that we’ve been putting off for moons.
Saving 17 minutes on the Ottawa-Montreal trip or 45 minutes on the Montreal-Toronto trip is far from a revolution!
What do you want, a TGV is too expensive, our aviation cartel reminded us.
Basically, travel is like telecommunications, like shopping. The apology of our large country and small population has such a broad spine that we have become accustomed to paying and enduring in silence.
As for the holidays, we are promised that this summer will be better. Don’t hold your breath.
