In two separate decisions of Aug. 29, 2013, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ordered Air Canada and Porter Airlines to revise certain domestic tariffprovisions. A tariff is the contract between the carrier and the passenger which contains an air carrier’s terms and conditions of carriage. Tariff provisions are enforceable by the CTA.I a decision issued in May 2013, the CTA acknowledged that Air Canada should have the flexibility to determine when an aircraft should be substituted for operational and safety reasons. The CTA gave the carrier the opportunity to demonstrate how these conditions could be met in its tariff. It now found that Air Canada failed to do so and therefore has to provide boarding compensation to affected passengers. Air Canada has to revise its denied boarding compensation regime by September 18, 2013, to reflect the following compensation provisions:Less than 2 hour delay = 50% of the base amountBetween 2 and less than 6 hour delay = 100% of the base amount6 hour delay or more = 200% of the base amountThe base amount is established as CND 400This compensation applies solely to involuntary denied boarding, and does not relate to situations where a passenger volunteers to be denied boarding for whatever compensation Air Canada wishes to offer.In a separate decision, the Agency dealt with Porter’s responsibility for schedules and operations, as well as the reasonableness and clarity of its domestic tariff. In response to the complaint, Porter proposed certain tariff revisions, which the Agency found still lacked clarity and some were found to be unreasonable.Source: CTA press release of Aug. 28, 2013
