Ottawa, ON, June 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) launches it first town hall public consultation on the new air passenger regulations in Toronto today, the National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC) wants to alert Canadians about how these regulations could affect their communities.
“All Canadians have a stake in getting these regulations right,” says Massimo Bergamini, President and CEO of NACC. “Flight delays and cancellations stem from a multitude of factors, most often outside of an air carrier’s control -- focusing solely on airlines as the CTA seems to be doing, misses the mark.”
“Developing a punitive system to enforce new regulations may fail to deliver the travel experience Canadian air passengers want, and may actually hurt those that live in remote, northern and Atlantic Canada communities.”
For example, U.S. regulations imposing harsh fines on airlines for tarmac delays have increased flight cancellations and increased in-transit time for passengers. Such an outcome in Canada would be particularly challenging for those living in smaller communities or outside of the largest hubs.
NACC is reaching out to municipal governments , boards of trade, chambers of commerce, and tourism and hotel associations to focus attention on how the aviation system actually operates and why it’s important that all parts work together to ensure good service to travellers.
“It’s like an ecosystem,” says Bergamini. “Thousands of people in many organizations—including airlines, airports, air traffic control, and government agencies responsible for border control, security, customs and immigration—contribute to the success of every flight.
“You can’t fix system problems by tinkering with just one part of it. Developing policies without considering their impact on the entire system risks creating new problems, adding costs or reducing services for passengers,” said Bergamini.
To provide additional context for discussions about passenger rights, NACC is sending background information to local governments, boards of trade, chambers of commerce, and tourism and hotel associations, as well as an educational video that explains the aviation ecosystem.
“Our message to Canadians is this,” says Bergamini. “NACC’s member airlines want to make passenger air travel better for everyone, but no one will benefit from an approach that creates unintended consequences that hurt the people they were intended to help. The more people know about this issue, the better the aviation ecosystem will work.”
The Aviation Ecosystem video may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH4CKhufHk8& .
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Grant Dingwall National Airlines Council of Canada 613-231-7223 gdingwall@airlinecouncil.ca
