Atlantic Canada premiers want 'reconsidered' process for new Air Passenger Protection Regulations

Atlantic Canada’s four premiers say proposed changes to Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations could lead to a reduction of routes and increase in prices across the region.

In a letter to federal Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez, the Council of Atlantic Premiers ask for an ongoing review of regulations to be “reconsidered.”

“We are concerned that the proposed regulatory changes are likely to mean even further increased costs for Atlantic residents as airlines look to recoup the costs of regulatory compliance,” writes council chair and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey. “It may also result in airlines becoming hesitant to continue, resume or provide service to regional markets, ultimately limiting regional air accessibility for passengers.”

None of the four Atlantic premiers were made available on Tuesday to speak about the letter, which cites an example of compensation for delays caused by mechanical events and the requirement for passengers to be re-booked within nine hours.

The letter calls the example a “proposed change,” however it is included in current regulations. 

“The premiers are speaking out against about what they believe to be a new change, that has already been in place since the inception of the APPR,” says Gábor Lukács, a Canadian air passenger rights advocate and president of Air Passenger Rights, who called the Council of Atlantic Premiers’ letter “ill-informed.”

The Canadian Transportation Agency held consultations last summer to “strengthen” the 2019 regulations, publishing a “What We Heard” report this past November.

Lukács says the premier’s request for a change in the process of developing new regulations is “inappropriate.”

“That’s interference with a process that has already been initiated, has already been done pursuant to federal parliament’s will,” says Lukács. “The premiers are quite late in the game now.”

'We want government to take a pause'

The association representing 13 airports across Atlantic Canada submitted its own thoughts on future Air Passenger Protection Regulations during last year’s consultation process. 

“We want government to take a pause,” says Nadia MacDonald, executive director of the Atlantic Canadian Airports Association, in an interview on Tuesday. “We court airlines to come to our market, and if our market in Atlantic Canada is a riskier option compared to other areas of the country because of the new rules and lack of frequency, then it makes that courtship more difficult.”

MacDonald says regulations and penalties should approach airlines operating within Atlantic Canada differently.

“What is being proposed doesn’t take into account the frequency of flights in a regional market, which is often two-to-three times a week,” says MacDonald.

A written statement from Transport Canada on Tuesday says forthcoming draft regulations will recognize “that regional and remote airports operate differently,” without elaborating further.