‘Does not cut it’: Passenger advocate calls out Air Transat’s rebooking approach amid strike notice

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With the union representing Air Transat pilots issuing a 72-hour strike notice, and the airline announcing a “gradual and orderly shutdown” of operations over the next three days, an advocate advises impacted customers to be aware of their rights as passengers.

“When an airline cancels a flight preemptively before the workers have walked off the job, that is a cancellation within the carrier’s control,” Gábor Lukács, founder of Air Passenger Rights, told CTV News Channel on Sunday.

“In such situations, Air Transat owes passengers, not only rebooking, including on competitor airlines, but also meals, accommodation and lump-sum accommodation (of) up to $1,000, depending on how long the passenger is delayed as a result.”

Air Transat announced that flights will gradually be suspended on Dec. 8 and 9 in anticipation of the strike notice. The airline says customers whose flights are cancelled will be informed and solutions will be provided to them.

• Air Transat to start halting flights Monday after pilots issue 72-hour strike notice

Dave Bourdages, vice-president of flight operations with Air Transat, told CTV News Channel on Sunday that the airline is in the midst of a special plan that will help bring all its passengers back into the country over the next three days.

Bourdages also said the airline is offering credit to passengers who want to make changes to their travel plans.

However, Lukács warns passengers to be cautious about accepting a refund.

“It’s very nice that the airline is offering various options to passengers, but passengers have no obligation to accept those offers,” he said. “I recommend passengers stick to what is in the contract, stick to what is in the law. If, as a passenger, you accept some of those goodwill gestures, you are at the airline’s mercy ...

“You don’t have to accept a refund either; you can insist on being transported on a competitor airline on the original date, or as close to it as possible.”

• Air Transat says its offer ‘very generous’ as pilots move toward strike

The union representing Air Transat pilots and the airline have been negotiating a new contract for almost a year.

While the union has said it was left with no choice but to issue a strike notice after “months of unproductive bargaining,” the airline says it has been generous with its offers of 59 per cent salary increase over five years and major improvements to pilots’ working conditions.

However, while Air Transat says a negotiated agreement is still possible before the set strike day, Lukács says the airline remains responsible for rebooking passengers if a strike is underway.

“Air Transat is still required to rebook passengers on fights on its partner airlines to depart within 48 hours or the original departure time,” he said. “If that’s not possible, then Air Transat has to buy, using its own corporate credit card, its own money, tickets for passengers on competitor airlines ...

“What Air Transat is doing and suggesting people to buy tickets and then seek reimbursement, that does not cut it, that’s not sufficient and does not meet the legal obligation that Air Transat has.”

Although Lukács stresses that it is the airline’s responsibility to rebook passengers, he says that if the airline does not do so, he advises passengers to buy a ticket and seek reimbursement for that expense, along with any additional costs incurred as a result of a cancelled flight.

“It is Air Transat’s obligation to buy your ticket, not you to run after them,” he said.