Airline passengers told to stay mum on rulings

Canadian Transportation Agency pressure on complainants limits free expression, advocate says

- CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS

The Canadian Transportation Authority's backlog of 72,000 complaint is likely to grow in the short term after more than 100,000 WestJet customers saw their flights cancelled due to a strike by mechanics over the Canada Day long weekend.

A consumer rights organization says the Canadian Transportation Agency is pressuring passengers to stay silent about its rulings on their complaints — a move the country’s airline regulator says falls squarely within its mandate under the law.

The agency has asked at least one complainant who posted a decision on the Air Passenger Rights’ Facebook page to delete their post, said Gabor Lukacs, president of the advocacy group.

“The decision was posted in the group by one of the passengers involved in the decision, who has since removed the post at our request,” reads an email to Lukacs from an agency director and posted online.

The message asks Lukacs for his group’s “collaboration in preventing future public sharing of confidential information.”