I saw the 'three year anniversary' and noticed the 'paper' bragging about how Air Canada (the airline that threatened a passenger with a no fly list if he wouldn't sit in another passenger's fresh puke) was going to fire all its pilots who were not vaccinated against Corona.
They must be having enormous buyer's remorse if they did, because at least across the Atlantic, there is an enormous shortage of pilots and personnel.
Just curious.
I know some of them here in the US did. There was an incident around the height of mandate dispute where a bunch of flights got cancelled due to a pilot shortage, and they blamed it on bad weather which everyone knew was a lie. Part of it was about hiding the electrical outlet they stuck their dicks in of course, but it was also about avoiding having to refund their customers.
Wait, they canceled flights and didn't refund customers? How is that even possible?
Federal regulations state that they don't have to offer refunds if the flight was cancelled for reasons out of their control. I think they usually offer airline miles if they don't refund you, but I don't know the details of this particular incident. Either way they obviously have an incentive to lie about the cause of any cancelations.
Things outside of their control(weather) or if they pull away from the gate then they can pull shenanigans. That's why you'll get boarded on a plane and then literally as the door closes they go "OH by the way we are going to be sitting on the tarmac for two hours."
I'm just surprised that they can refuse to provide a service, for any reason, without offering a refund.
We have a similar issue in Europe, where airlines have to offer compensation for delays and cancellations. They often just claim it's the "weather" so they don't have to pay up. But even if it's the weather, they at least have to refund what you paid for. It'd be strange if they didn't. Seems like a great scam.
If it's outside their control, like weather, they don't have to offer a monetary refund or pay for meals/lodging but they still have to re-rebook you onto the next available flight to your destination.
Also most airlines have pledged to the FAA that they will offer meals and lodging if you're stranded past a certain period of time, which the FAA says is legally binding.
If a delay is due to something considered under their control (maintenance, their computer systems), they have to offer a cash refund for any unused portion of your itinerary. In most cases it's still better to take their rebooking option, because chances are the value of the discount ticket you bought two months ago won't pay for the same-day ticket you'll be buying with another airline and they don't have to provide meals or accommodations if it's not leaving in the near future.
Canadian regulations for Air travel aren't worth the piss cake they are printed on. US regulations are slightly better. Europe leads the pack, and CA are very careful with their Euro flights because of that.