Air Canada is piloting (I mean, they’re always piloting) a new system for dispute resolution.
What happened: Canada’s largest airline is asking 500 randomly selected customers with outstanding complaints filed through the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) if they would bring their cases to a new independent arbitrator that promises to make a ruling within 90 days. Though the rulings are not legally binding, Air Canada promises to abide by them.
The body is funded by the airline but run by the U.K.-based non-profit CDRL Group. Complainants can try it out without losing their spot in line for the CTA process.
Air Canada nodded to similar third-party arbitrators that exist across Europe, which customers can choose to bring complaints to after first lodging them with the airline.
Why it matters: We’re at the point where European-style alternate dispute bodies may be necessary to take a load off of the CTA. The regulator now has a backlog of more than 95,000 cases and takes three years on average to resolve a complaint. This logjam is obviously a pain for travellers and could erode the integrity of the system in their eyes.
Yes, but: An arbitrator contracted by the company you’re mad at isn’t exactly a recipe for restoring trust either, especially as airlines have been accused of exacerbating CTA wait times by contesting claims. As Air Passenger Rights president Gabor Lukacs put it, “It’s like if somebody is divorcing [you and] hires their best friend to be the impartial arbitrator.”—QH
