This website, Flyers Rights, has been started by Kate Hanni and it is an amazing and sadly necessary organization that has proposed an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights.

Kate is the president of this organization and she has been working hard to get a Bill of Rights passed by Congress to protect passengers, pilots and flight attendants against the long delays on runways and other egregious issues that make airline travel less than comfortable. Currently, there are several provisions pending in the form of legislation and Department of Transportation.

She also has agreed to collect the names of Canadians who would like to see a similar legislation in Canada. Anyone can sign the petition, according to the interview this morning on CBC...she will collect the names of Canadians as well, then give those to a mayor of a town in Newfoundland who is interested in doing the same thing in this country.

This is a fantastic idea..a forum for every single airline passenger who has been stuck in a flight on a runway for hours, with no food, no water, no clean toilets, for example. There is also a message board forum and a section where you can post your flight horror stories.

Check it out...I think you'll find it interesting!

"Ensure that baggage is handled without delay or injury; if baggage is lost or misplaced, the airline shall notify customer of baggage status within 12 hours and provide compensation equal to current market value of baggage and its contents." ~ From the proposed Airline Passengers Bill of Rights
Brenda

Thanks, Brenda. That is some "good" reading! Interesting points and easy to join or contribute. The "emergency kit" is funny and ironically quite on the mark!

Laura

Thanks, Laura!
I just heard an interview with the troubleshooter for Air Canada. He was interviewed after Kate Hanni and was quite forthright and open about the reasons for a variety of happenings that we deal with when we are traveling by air. He addressed some of the inequalities that I find when flying within Canada and then to the US or Europe, for example.

One question that was interesting to me was about the variation and seeming inequality of airfares from place to place ...he said that airfares are based on a number of varying factors. One is the landing fee that different airports charge for each flight that touches down. Toronto has one of the highest per flight charge in the commercial aviation world, so flights in and out of that airport might be reflectant of the surcharges levied by Pearson International.

I often complain that it costs me more to fly within my own country than it does to fly to Europe. Now I know why!

This is long overdue...a forum for people with valid complaints to make their case heard and perhaps, in the future, a bill of passenger's rights that prevents the airlines from visiting the horrors of delayed flights and lost luggage upon us as passengers. I hope it is successful!

Now, my mission is to find out who the Canadian contact is. In the interview she mentioned the mayor of a town or city in Newfoundland...anyone else know who this is?

"If the Wright brother were alive today Wilbur would have to fire Orville to reduce costs."
~ Herb Kelleher
Brenda

Hi Brenda, I too am curious as to who in Canada to contact regarding passenger rights.

We've just received word that our flight home from London is delayed....not a problem you say....except it's not just a few hours, but a whole day!! Which in London equates to another night in a hotel $$$$$$.

I'm not too upset since it will still work out date wise (have to go back to work now the next day instead of having that one "recovery" day) but it is an added cost in that we now have to stay in London one extra night. We had already booked a hotel near the airport (we fly in the afternoon before from Corsica) and now have to book another night, if they have "room at the inn". If we'd known we had 2 days, we could have planned something a little more exciting, but as it is we booked a "cheap deal" hotel room at the Holiday Inn near Gatwick, which is already paid and non-refundable....argh!!

I'm not sure if the airline is responsible for anything (not to them they aren't!!) since it is not just a simple couple hour time change.

Linda.

Linda, since your flight is from Europe you are probably covered under the EU Air Transport Users Council.

This recently came up on FlyerTalk - a useful source of information re airlines and air travel.

quote:

According to EU 261/2004 You are entitled to 600 EUR compensation in addition to reimbursement for your overnight hotel and meals if you are delayed more than 4 hrs and if your journey is over 3500 kms

This of course is if the delay is created by the airline rather than weather etc. In your case it is obviously airline.

I'm no expert on this - but I would suggest that you look into it.

Thanks for sharing, Linda!
I've also had a day or more 'extra' in a location...mostly in Hawaii, so it was absolutely no hardship for me!

I'm trying to find the contact for Canadians, but so far, no luck. I'm going to e-mail the CBC and see if they will send me some information from their program today. I was drying dishes while listening to The Sunday Edition, and managed to write down Kate Hanni's name and missed the name of the mayor in Newfoundland!


Sheena, that's great information. Thanks for letting us know! I love Flyertalk...good site with tons of help and advice.

"The cost of air travel is ever changing. One day, you'll pay a sky-high fare to get from point A to point B. The next, you'll be lucky, and find a really low fare but don't expect any frills. I recently saw an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Rome advertised for $199. I was amazed, considering it can cost more than $1,000 to fly to Victoria. I wondered how it could be cheaper to be drinking espresso near the Colosseum than to sip tea at the Empress Hotel." ~ CBC's Sunday Edition with Michael Enright
Brenda

There is an overview here - but it is failry old info - you need to Google!

This site gives a little more information about flights that are changed well in advance.

Thanks Sheena.....I will look this up and contact them again. I simply asked when I called and of course was told no because we've been given notice etc. (it's our flight at the end of June). But perhaps if I have something in hand that I can quote or at least use as a reference they might be a little more accommodating.

And Brenda....you are so right about it costing more to fly within Canada, and I don't even mean across Canada, just the mountains. We're going to Calgary for a few days in March and it cost almost the same as it is for us to fly to London!!! Doesn't give you much incentive to travel within your own country does it

Linda

I really crab about the flight costs in my own country, when a flight from Toronto - Rome is $239 and a flight from Toronto - Edmonton is $459! Yeeks!

The thing I love about this site that Kate has created is that it gives everyone a place to be heard, when something goes wrong.
If the Bill of Rights is passed into legislation, it then gives travelers something to back them up when they are looking for compensation, a line in the sand that the airlines cannot cross, so to speak.

I'd love to see this kind of forum supported, for the obvious reason - right now, when something goes wrong...luggage is lost, reservations are bumped...all we can do is complain. With this in place, people can actually have a guideline to follow in their conversations with the airlines.

The Bill of Rightsfor airline passengers lays it down in black and white what the time line is for a response and what service quality the client can expect and can receive.

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things." ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Brenda

Topping this to note this site, which gives a rundown on how US Senators voted recently on the Passenger Bill of Rights. The vote was not strictly on the bill, but to end the filibuster against it.

- Roz

Flying internationally for example over the Atlantic involves all sorts of costs you have airport fees at either end, Air traffic control charges for each country and for the Atlantic Ocean segment. Thats the cheapest its currently 79 pounds per aircraft to cross the UK controlled part of the Atlantic (Shanwick).

You should consider though every "right" the passenger gets adds to the airfare. You can either have cheap airfares or compensation for delays.