Aviation Passenger Bill of Rights

News Article

So recently, there has been an uproar in the aviation community regarding Air Transat (not to be confused with Air Tran which was absorbed by Southwest), a Canadian air carrier headquartered in Montreal, who had two flights delayed due to weather. In Canada, there is no governing law applicable to the aid of passengers during a delay, which the Canadian Parliament has diligently taken swift action towards.

On flights governed by American jurisdiction, passengers are required to deplane for delays longer than 3 hours on domestic flights, and 4 hours on international flights. During these delays, and within those hour limits, the airline must do everything necessary to provide amenities such as food and restrooms and a comfortable environment. This is where Air Transat failed. Both planes eventually lost power and AC, which from my limited knowledge of how airplanes work, it either ran out of fuel while parked, the batteries ran out of juice (which is likely after international travel).

For discussion, I'd like for you to evaluate passenger rights and what Canada should consider for its own.

If you'd like to learn more about aviation laws, YouTuber Wendover Productions provides a lot of great and developed videos about how aviation has been developed.