With many Canadians trying to return home from Mexico, one air passenger rights advocate expects plenty of airline customer claims in the days ahead.
After violence broke out on the streets of Puerto Vallarta, multiple airlines, including Air Canada, cancelled many flights to and from the region.
Gabor Lukacs tells 1130 NewsRadio that any customer affected has the right to choose between a refund, in the original form of payment, and transportation to an airport to leave the country.
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“If the original airline is not able to provide transportation, they have to re-book them on another airline’s flights, at the airline’s cost, from nearby airports and even provide ground transportation to those airports if that’s what passengers want,” said Lukacs.
That policy, he says, is spelled out in the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).
“There is a clear obligation for the airline to re-book passengers on any carriers for the next available flight.”
He says people should give their airline a few hours to find another flight, and if nothing surfaces, book their own flight on another carrier.
“And send the bill to the original airline and take the original airline to small claims court, if necessary,” Lukacs advised.
“Even though the situation may be quite bad on the ground in the city, this situation for flight cancellations may not even be outside a carrier’s control. And if it’s within the carrier’s control, the airline also owes passengers compensation of up to $1,000 for their trouble and inconvenience.”
Porter Airlines is resuming service to Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday, following similar announcements by Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat.
Porter says it intends to restart service with complimentary changes available for Puerto Vallarta through Feb. 25.
In a social media post on Monday, Air Canada said full operations from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver to the Mexican city will resume Tuesday, while flights from Toronto to Guadalajara will begin again on Wednesday.
WestJet and Air Transat also said they are resuming service to and from Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday, with WestJet doing the same for Guadalajara and Manzanillo.
In an update on its website, WestJet said the move followed a “thorough review of the current conditions,” and it will continue to monitor any developments, adding, “WestJet’s flexible/change policy remains in effect for guests travelling to PVR, GDL and ZLO until February 27.”
Air Transat said local authorities advised that “no incidents related to road blockages have been reported in the state of Jalisco” since midnight Monday, and that security measures have been reinforced.
Tourists and locals in multiple regions of the nation were told to shelter in place to escape violence that erupted on Sunday after the death of a cartel leader as part of a government operation.
On Monday, the federal government confirmed more than 26,000 Canadians in the country had registered with Global Affairs Canada.
—With files from The Canadian Press
