Mr. Chair, the member points out an important improvement in the air passenger protection regulations that actually has, as its antecedent, the complete shutdown of air travel back in March 2020. What happened there is that the passenger rights system had a set of obligations for carriers in terms of the treatment of passengers, whether or not a delay is within their control. However, the regulations didn't envisage the kind of catastrophic shutdown we saw in March 2020, so they didn't speak to what you would do if the air carrier can't actually complete the journey in a reasonable time. That generated the issue of vouchers versus refunds.
This change ensures that if the passengers want, they can get compensation in the form of a full cash reimbursement of the ticket if it's a situation where it's impossible for the airline to complete the journey within a reasonable time.
Short of this amendment, the airlines still have obligations, even in situations under the current rules as they exist today, before September 8, for rebooking passengers and duty of accommodation and care, even if the cause of the delay is outside of their control. This bolsters the rights of passengers and gives them the ability to declare, no, they just want a refund and they just want their money back.