Having travelled in Europe and Canada I tend to agree with Matt's points regarding delays: out of these ports delays do seem to be minimized as there is robust consumer protections to hold airlines accountable. Yes it is somewhat suspicious how sometimes the delay is just under the 2 hour window for compensation under EU261 or 3 hours in the case of APPR, but I'll take that any day over having to spend the better part of a day at the airport. The one point that should be mentioned is that whilst Canada does have consumer protection in the form of APPR it is not as robust as that of Europe. For instance, airlines can avoid paying out passenger entitlement due to delays if they can show it was due to unscheduled maintenance. And sometimes even carriers will flaunt the rules hoping passengers won't fight them in court or at the regulator. For instance, Air Canada cancelled my flight due to a crew shortage back in June 2022 resulting in me arriving 16 hours late. They denied my claim for $1000 CAD in delay entitlement under APPR because they claimed it was in their control but required for safety. I am presently fighting them with the regulators and the evidence they have to "support" their case is laughable. They cut back the number of reserve pilots by about a third and have provided other evidence that makes it quite clear that they made a business decision not to properly staff their flights. I have pointed that out in my reply to the airline with the regulator and await the final adjudication on this matter. But so far we're looking at over 2 years now between when the disruption occurred and (hopefully) when I receive my $1,000 entitlement from Air Canada. And in case anyone is wondering, no it isn't compensation for a delay, it is an entitlement. It is a consumer protection against getting delayed. I do not need to show what harm, if any the airline caused by making me delayed. Indeed, I have received the 600 Euro EU261 entitlement from Qantas when my Singapore to Sydney flight was delayed by 14 hours even though it meant I actually ended up ahead due to me not having two back to back red eyes from Europe. Indeed, there would be nothing in theory that would prevent me from pursuing either Air Canada or Qantas for damages caused by the delay (i.e. lost wages) as that's a totally separate matter, if I wanted to.
Last point here, some folks will say, all these consumer protections will only make airfares go up. My rebuttal for that is, show me the proof. Show me examples where consumer protections like these have raised fares in any way. Just look at Europe: RyanAir and EasyJet are still selling fares across Europe for next to nothing despite them being subjected to the same EU261 requirements as a large airline like British Airways or Qantas. If anything, consumer protections like these keep air fares low. After all, if airlines have to provide meals, accommodation, and monetary entitlements due to delays, do you think they'll be delaying a lot of flights? And if they don't delay flights their operation will run more smoothly which will make scheduling and other aspects of their operation more efficient. And efficiency does mean they will save money. One just look at RyanAir and EasyJet. The reason they can be so profitable despite them selling dirt cheap fares is they keep their planes moving. Rarely do you see a RyanAir bird parked up at an airport for more than an hour. Keep the bird moving and keep the revenue wheel turning!
-RooFlyer88
www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au
