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Statements and Speeches

Statement of Mr. Bruce Hood
Air Travel Complaints Commissioner

Last summer, I was appointed as Air Travel Complaints Commissioner and charged with the responsibility of responding to complaints from passengers travelling on air carriers that operate within Canada or fly to and from this country. My role was to resolve those complaints, to the best of my ability, in cases where no other remedy could be found.

For the last eight months, my office has worked hard to fulfill the expectations of many Canadians who looked to us as a place to voice their concerns about the quality of service they felt was lacking in the air travel industry.

This report is a snapshot of how many Canadians viewed the state of the air industry in Canada over a six-month period, from July 2000 to the end of last December.

It is by no means a complete picture. Still, it is strong evidence that the restructuring of the air industry—and that includes Air Canada's purchase of Canadian Airlines—has not been accomplished as easily or as problem-free as Canadians might have hoped.

Canadians who fly a lot have had many more good experiences with air travel than bad. But that doesn't make the bad bearable, whether you are a frequent flier or are a passenger on your very first flight. Canadians simply deserve better.

I am happy to respond to any questions that you might have about the report's contents. But first, I would like to point out some of the highlights that I believe are central to my findings during the six-month reporting period.

• There is no doubt that many Canadians were affected by the changes which have taken place in the Canadian air travel industry. This report is based on 1,248 written complaints from passengers who in total listed more than 3,500 separate issues that my office sorted into 16 different categories.

• There is also no doubt that the overwhelming majority of complaints – in fact, more than 80 per cent—were against Air Canada, the country's single largest air carrier. That might seem like a given, since it carries at least 80 per cent of the passenger load in Canada. Still, it is a fact.

• Canadians represented in the report were most concerned about three categories of complaint issues.

• First, quality of service. The overwhelming majority of complaints about quality of service involved lack of communication by a carrier, a negative attitude exhibited by airline employees and a lack of respect for the paying passenger.

• Second, flight schedules. That includes delays to flights as well as to cancellations. Passengers do not like to be left in the dark about changes to their flight schedules. That is true whether they are waiting in the airport terminal, in the plane on the tarmac, or in the air.

• Finally, baggage problems. No one likes to arrive at their destination only to find out their luggage has not. The frustration of delayed or lost baggage is only compounded by an unsympathetic response from the people who lost the luggage in the first place.

My report includes six recommendations that I believe will strengthen the performance of the air industry, as well as go a long way to making the flying experience a lot more pleasant for everyone—passengers and carriers alike.

Among the recommendations:

• I suggest that air carriers be more willing to acknowledge a problem when it occurs or as soon as it is brought to their attention. That, it would seem, is just good business sense.

• I also urge the carriers to be more prompt and forthright about providing information about changes to scheduled flight times or route diversions.

• And I strongly recommend that they provide passengers with easier access to the terms and conditions of carriage, as detailed in their tariffs. Passengers should not have to inquire about their rights. They should be made aware of them from the outset—in a clear and concise format that could be distributed to check-in counters as well as to travel agencies.

I believe that carriers have every good intention of satisfying their customers. I also believe that most Canadians do not go to great lengths to complain about something unless they are really upset.

The lesson we have learned from our experience is that the bridge between the two is communication. Most of the complaints my office received in some way came down to a lack of proper communication by the air carrier.

Somewhere along the line, those lines of communication were broken, whether it was when the problem occurred or in the attempts to get a problem rectified.

There will always be problems that occur in air travel. What is most important to the customer is how the problem is handled by the carrier. What is also important, is that the carriers take action to avoid similar problems in the future. Consumers deserve better attention to quality of service.

Finally,

• To the business executive who was so angered by repeatedly bad air travel service that he told his boss he no longer wanted to be sent anywhere he'd have to fly, I say you deserve better.

• To the elderly couple whose vacation was spoiled by the rudeness of an airline employee at a check-in counter, I say you deserve better.

• To the woman who tried to book her reservation and spent 2 hours and 45 minutes on the telephone listening to a ‘Please Hold' message, I say you deserve better.

To all the people who e-mailed or wrote to my office looking for help–and to all those who had good reason to but didn't–your message to the air travel industry was loud and clear: you most certainly deserve better.

Thank you.