What’s your best move if you booked with Air Transat? Here’s what one expert says

Genevieve Beauchemin has details on what travellers who have upcoming flights booked with Air Transat should know if the airline's pilots go on strike.

A looming strike at Air Transat could scramble passengers’ flight plans, but one passenger advocate says those with ticket in hand now may simply just want to hold tight.

Marlene Gallyot is set to take off on Saturday, heading to Cuba with members of her family, including her nine-month-old granddaughter. Her bags are packed, and she has a hotel booked in Toronto for the night before her early flight to a country she has been to several times before.

“We’ve been excited about this trip because this is the first time I am taking my granddaughter with me,” said Gallyot. “Now I wonder whether I should cancel my hotel … should we cancel the flight to be rebooked? I have no clue.”

Gabor Lukacs, founder of the advocate group Air Passenger Rights, says he recommends passengers stay put and wait things out.

“Your legal rights are triggered by the cancellation of your flight. Until the time that your flight is cancelled, you are at the airline’s mercy. They may offer to bring you home early, or to give you vouchers, but these are goodwill gestures. They are not mandated by law,” said Lukacs.

“For now, it is a bit of a game of chicken. Until you actually get a cancellation, you should not do anything, other than come up with ideas for a plan B.”

Air Transat has offered passengers scheduled to fly from now until Dec. 12 more flexibility for cancellation. The airline suggests passengers go online and fill a form to cancel their flight and receive a credit valid for a flight within the next twelve months. They also said passengers could change their plans, by first cancelling their flights and re-booking immediately using the credit.

But any other potential compensation that could be offered if a strike is triggered may be erased off the books for those cancelling their own flights.

“Right now, the pilots are still available to fly the planes. So, in that case, it is a managerial business decision not to operate a flight, in much the same way that they would make a decision in the event that the flight is undersold,” said Lukacs.

“In that situation, they not only have to provide alternative transportation to passengers, but also to pay them up to $1,000 in lump sum compensation under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations.”

Those rules change after the strike begins, under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection regulations, which considers the strike outside a carrier’s control. There are additional rights for passengers travelling internationally.

Air Transat also added four flights and offered passengers return trips home today. For many passengers, including some CTV News was in touch with today, that means cutting short a vacation from Mexico that was supposed to last until Dec. 10.

“You should not have to cut your holiday or vacation short because Air Transat may be going on strike,” said Lukacs. “What they are trying to do is somewhat of a scare tactic. If the passenger agrees to it, there is very little that can be done.”

Lukacs says passengers should not make concessions to carriers, and that agreeing to an early flight means you are giving away your legal rights if your original flight has not been cancelled.

The airline says travellers who booked a flight and hotel package through Air Transat will be entitled to a refund for unused hotel nights. That would not extend to other costs, and would not be offered to travellers who booked hotels on their own.

Gallyot says she is hoping the strike will be averted and she can enjoy the sunshine and be able to visit the many friends she met over several trips to Cuba in the past. But she says all the turbulence in air travel is taking its toll.

“We love travelling,” she said. “But now we have to think twice before we even buy a ticket to travel.”

Lukacs also suggests travellers record phone calls with the airline about flight changes and cancellations and keep all correspondence as evidence to build a case, in case the airline’s compensation is inadequate.