Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
I take a lot of flights. I'm a member from British Columbia. I fly about 120 flights a year, and in the last four years it has been close to 400. I haven't experienced any of the things that Mr. French has spoken about. I had one flight cancellation. It was rerouted and I was only two hours late coming back to Ottawa. I gave my seat up once. The flight was overbooked. It was an emergency situation, and a family needed an extra seat.
My question, Mr. French, is what is a reasonable expectation of a passenger?We're talking about weather. We're talking about things that are out of the hands of airlines. It could be the airport itself, or the weather; it could even be Canadian Border Services Agency having a problem with a passenger and they want the flight delayed for a certain period of time.
I think we support rights for passengers, but we have to have reasonable expectations. My feeling about this bill is not necessarily the intent of the bill but its....
I think it's a bad bill. They've penalized the airline rather than looking at the big picture and what is a reasonable expectation of a passenger.
Mr. French, could you maybe speak to that?