Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses this afternoon.
I'm learning some pretty neat things here, too, specifically with regard to the EU and how that model looks compared with our model here in Canada.
I would start by saying that perhaps what we should be looking at is not only the air passenger protection act, but the air and rail passenger protection act. In some dialogue this morning with the previous witnesses, I asked this question: Does our rail system have the same constraints, if you will, about how much time somebody can be on a train compared to how much time somebody can be on a plane, sitting on the tarmac? The answer that I heard was “no”. This is very important testimony.
The first thing I'd like to share is from January 24, this year. It's a CBC article entitled “Flair Airlines cancels service from Windsor to Montreal without notifying customers”. The last flight from Windsor to Montreal via Flair is on February 6. It goes on to say that they're going to cancel it.
Further on in the article, it says:
On Jan. 5, Aidan Gendreau booked a flight to Montreal [from Windsor] to visit his girlfriend in Ottawa on Feb. 17.
He was able to put in his reservation code and see his flight was confirmed through Flair's app, but when Gendreau went on the airline's website to book another trip in March he saw there were no flights available.
He was able to book it. He's paid for it and now they're saying that he won't be flying, because they've cancelled that flight.
Further on in the article, it talks about all of the costs incurred by this gentleman to go and see his loved one. He's booked trains to get from Montreal to Ottawa. He's talking about cancelling hotel rooms and whatnot. To add salt to the wound, the last sentence says, “Gendreau said he had to book a new flight that cost an extra $150.” That's not with Flair. That will be with another airline.
My first question is to Mr. Jack. Do you believe that it should be not only about the passengers who have shown up at an airport and didn't get to fly, but those who have booked in advance and now they're saying, “No, you're not flying. If you want to fly, it's going to be more money”?
Is that part of this conversation?