Travel industry executives asked Canada’s airline regulator to establish that vouchers could amount to a refund in March 2020 amid thousands of flight cancellations at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, newly released emails reveal — days before the agency did so.
March 22 correspondence disclosed under a Federal Court of Appeal order show that then-Transat CEO Jean-Marc Eustache asked the Canadian Transportation Agency to confirm that “no refunds to passengers are required,” which he said would pre-empt credit card chargebacks and lawsuits.
Three days later, the agency posted a statement clarifying that airlines could generally issue flight credits or vouchers to customers whose flights it had cancelled due to the pandemic, rather than reimbursing them.
The letter followed an email and extended phone conversation between a Transat executive and a senior agency director on the same topic four days earlier. The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies also wrote to the regulator asking it to help them with “prevention of credit card chargebacks.”
The agency’s statement on March 25 that flight credit rather than refunds constitutes a “reasonable approach” toward passengers left out of pocket by cancelled flights sparked public backlash and thousands of complaints to the agency.
The transportation agency says it regularly holds discussions with stakeholders that fall under its regulatory mandate, such as industry and consumer protection associations, and that they do not interfere with its impartiality.
Transat spokesman Christophe Hennebelle says the intent of the correspondence was to fully inform the agency of a rapidly evolving situation and provide guidance on new transportation legislation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2021.
