Transport minister says Sunwing ‘violated’ passengers’ rights during Christmas travel chaos

Following a holiday travel season that saw Canadians stranded abroad, stuck for hours on tarmacs, and forced to sleep on airport floors, federal lawmakers on Thursday grilled airline executives about what went wrong.

The severe winter weather was the primary culprit, leaders from Sunwing, WestJet and Air Canada told the House of Commons transportation committee during an emergency meeting convened ahead of Parliament's return later this month.

In opening remarks, Kevin O'Connor, Air Canada's vice-president of system operations control, defended the company's recent performance in the face of extreme weather that caused four-foot icicles" in Vancouver and froze baggage systems in Toronto.

But although stormy weather was behind much of the disruption, that's not why the committee meeting was called, said Julie Vignola, a Bloc MP representing Beauport-Limoilou.

The issue is really about customer service," she said.

Pam Damoff, a Liberal MP for Oakville North-Burlington, echoed that sentiment.

You can't control the weather, but what you can control is the plans that you have to deal with it, as well as how you communicate with your customers," she said, adding that bad weather is not unique to our Canadian winters."

Sunwing came under intense scrutiny from MPs on the committee.

Last month, the vacation-destination airline left hundreds stranded in Mexico after cancelling flights due to inclement weather ahead of Christmas, and then axed trips out of Saskatchewan until early February due to extenuating circumstances."

Len Corrado, Sunwing's president, once again apologized for failing to perform at the level its passengers expect.

While many of our customers enjoyed their holidays with minimal disruption, we had some failures in execution, for which we are very, very sorry," Corrado said.

He listed three main reasons behind the company's holiday struggles: severe storms impacting operations across the country, unexpected staffing challenges and airport infrastructure issues, such as a malfunctioning baggage belt system at Toronto's Pearson airport and de-icing fluid shortages in Vancouver. However, when questioned later in the day, Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of Vancouver International Airport, insisted it had not run out of de-icing fluid at any point during the holidays.

Corrado also said Sunwing had applied to hire 63 foreign pilots on a temporary basis, and planned to base them in Regina and Saskatoon. He said the company's application was unexpectedly rejected in early December.

When reached by the Star, a Sunwing representative clarified that the application was denied on Nov. 25. In all, the airline said it cancelled 67 flights during December's operational issues."

Following the testimony from airline executives, federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra faced heated questioning from Conservative MPs who accused the minister of failing to adequately intervene during the Sunwing fiasco.

But Alghabra fired back.

What do you want me to be responsible for? The weather? Or Sunwing's bad decisions?" Alghabra said at one point. I've been personally involved - even during Christmas Day, Boxing Day - on a regular basis, being informed and briefed on what's happening."

He said his office continually reminded Sunwing of their obligations to customers, as laid out in the Air Passenger Protection Regulations. Sunwing violated those rights," Alghabra said.

Alghabra was then asked by Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman of Thornhill why he didn't order the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) to conduct an inquiry into the recent air travel issues. Alghabra said the agency operates as an arm's length, quasi-judicial body" and should be void of political interference.

Taylor Bachrach, an NDP MP who represents Skeena-Bulkley Valley, has called on the federal government to strengthen the air passenger protections by requiring automatic compensation for travellers whose flights are delayed.

Right now, people who've already endured the stress caused by delays and cancelled flights have to jump through endless hoops to be compensated," Bachrach said in a statement released shortly before the committee's meeting.

According to Bachrach, the CTA has a backlog of 33,000 complaints from people who say they've been treated unfairly by airlines when it comes to compensation," with an average wait time of two years.

Andrew Gibbons, WestJet's vice-president of external affairs, also wants to see changes made to address the most glaring gap in consumer protection in Canada today."

Flight delays and cancellations can be caused by many groups, Gibbons said, yet only airlines have regulations governing our activities." He called on the committee to demand equal policies for any entity that provides a service that can result in a delay or cancellation," including government entities, airport authorities and Nav Canada, the private company that manages Canada's air space.

This is not about a blame game. It is simply about improving the system overall and making sure there's full transparency so the Canadian traveller understands what is the root cause" of flight delays and cancellation, Gibbons said.

After analyzing the issues it faced last month, WestJet said it planned to improve guest communications when things go wrong" and the airline's overall baggage performance."

With files from The Canadian Press

Ben Mussett is a Toronto-based general assignment reporter for the Star. Reach him via email: bmussett@thestar.ca