Effective December 15, 2019, the Canada Air Passenger Protection Regulations may provide additional protections to passengers traveling to or from Canada:
I. Denied Boarding, Cancellations, Delays, and Lost Baggage
If you are denied boarding, your flight is cancelled or delayed for at least two hours, or your baggage is lost or damaged, you may be entitled to certain standards of treatment and compensation under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations. For more information about your passenger rights please contact your air carrier or visit the Canadian Transportation Agency’s website.
Si l’embarquement vous est refusé, ou si votre vol est annulé ou retardé d’au moins deux heures ou si vos bagages sont perdus ou endommagés, vous pourriez avoir droit au titre du Règlement sur la protection des passagers aériens, à certains avantages au titre des normes de traitement applicables et à une indemnité. Pour de plus amples renseignements sur vos droits, veuillez communiquer avec votre transporteur aérien ou visiter le site Web de l’Office des transports du Canada.
Additional rights (including rights applicable to lost or damaged baggage) may be specified in the Canadian General Rules Tariff or International General Rules Tariff, as applicable. Amounts specified above are in Canadian dollars. Delta is considered a large carrier for purposes of these regulations.
You may contact Delta if you have questions about your rights or would like to file a complaint pursuant to the Canada Air Passenger Protection Regulations. If you are unsatisfied with Delta’s resolution of the complaint, you may also direct complaint to the Canadian Transportation Agency.
For affected passengers traveling to or from Canada, Delta must provide the following information to the passengers who are affected by a cancellation, delay or a denial of boarding:
(a) the reason for the delay, cancellation or denial of boarding;
(b) the compensation to which the passenger may be entitled for the inconvenience;
(c) the standard of treatment for passengers, if any; and
(d) the recourse available against Delta, including their recourse to the Agency.
In the case of a delay, Delta must communicate status updates to passengers every 30 minutes until a new departure time for the flight is set or alternate travel arrangements have been made for the affected passenger. Delta must communicate to passengers any new information as soon as feasible. The information referred to above must be provided by means of audible announcements and, upon request, by means of visible announcements. The information referred to above must also be provided to the passenger using the available communication method that they have indicated that they prefer, including a method that is compatible with adaptive technologies intended to assist persons with disabilities.
Denied Boarding
In the case of a denial of boarding, the carrier must provide compensation in the amount of:
(a.) $900, if the arrival of the passenger’s flight at the destination that is indicated on the original ticket is delayed by less than six hours;
(b.) $1,800, if the arrival of the passenger’s flight at the destination that is indicated on the original ticket is delayed by six hours or more, but less than nine hours; and
(c.) $2,400, if the arrival of the passenger’s flight at the destination that is indicated on the original ticket is delayed by nine hours or more.
Cancellations and Delays
1) Situations outside Carrier’s Control
This section applies to a carrier when there is delay, cancellation or denial of boarding due to situations outside the carrier’s control, including but not limited to the following:
(a) war or political instability;
(b) illegal acts or sabotage;
(c) meteorological conditions or natural disasters that make the safe operation of the aircraft impossible;
(d) instructions from air traffic control;
(e) a NOTAM, as defined in subsection 101.01(1) of the Canadian Aviation Regulations;
(f) a security threat;
(g) airport operation issues;
(h) a medical emergency;
(i) a collision with wildlife;
(j) a labour disruption within the carrier or within an essential service provider such as an airport or an air navigation service provider;
(k) a manufacturing defect in an aircraft that reduces the safety of passengers and that was identified by the manufacturer of the aircraft concerned, or by a competent authority; and
(l) an order or instruction from an official of a state or a law enforcement agency or from a person responsible for airport security.
Earlier flight disruption
(2) A delay, cancellation or denial of boarding that is directly attributable to an earlier delay or cancellation that is due to situations outside the carrier’s control, is considered to also be due to situations outside that carrier’s control if that carrier took all reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the earlier flight delay or cancellation.
Obligations
(3) When there is delay, cancellation or denial of boarding due to situations outside the carrier’s control, it must
(a) provide passengers with the information set forth above;
(b) in the case of a delay of three hours or more, provide alternate travel arrangements, in the manner set out in section 18 of the Act, to a passenger who desires such arrangements; and
(c) in the case of a cancellation or a denial of boarding, provide alternate travel arrangements in the manner set out in section 18.
2) Situations within Carrier’s Control
This section applies to a carrier when there is delay, cancellation or denial of boarding that is within the carrier’s control but is not referred to in subsections (1) or (2).
Delay
(2) In the case of a delay, the carrier must
(a) provide passengers with the information set forth above;
(b) if a passenger is informed of the delay less than 12 hours before the departure time that is indicated on their original ticket, provide them with the standard of treatment set out in section 14 of the Act;
(c) if the delay is a delay of three hours or more, provide alternate travel arrangements or a refund, in the manner set out in section 17 of the Act, to a passenger who desires such arrangements; and
(d) if a passenger is informed 14 days or less before the departure time on their original ticket that the arrival of their flight at the destination that is indicated on that original ticket will be delayed, provide the minimum compensation for inconvenience in the manner set out in section 19 of the Act.
Cancellation
(3) In the case of a cancellation, the carrier must
(a) provide passengers with the information set out in section 13 of the Act;
(b) if a passenger is informed of the cancellation less than 12 hours before the departure time that is indicated on their original ticket, provide the standard of treatment set out in section 14 of the Act;
(c) provide alternate travel arrangements or a refund, in the manner set out in section 17 of the Act; and
(d) if a passenger is informed 14 days or less before the original departure time that the arrival of their flight at the destination that is indicated on their ticket will be delayed, provide the minimum compensation for inconvenience in the manner set out in section 19 of the Act.
If paragraph (2)(d) or (3)(d) above applies to a carrier, it must provide the following minimum compensation:
(i) $400, if the arrival of the passenger’s flight at the destination that is indicated on the original ticket is delayed by three hours or more, but less than six hours,
(ii) $700, if the arrival of the passenger’s flight at the destination that is indicated on the original ticket is delayed by six hours or more, but less than nine hours, or
(iii) $1,000, if the arrival of the passenger’s flight at the destination that is indicated on the original ticket is delayed by nine hours or more; and
If paragraph (2)(c) or (3)(c) applies to a carrier and the passenger’s ticket is refunded in accordance with subsection (2), the carrier must provide a minimum compensation of $400.
To receive the minimum compensation referred to in paragraph (1) or (2), a passenger must file a request for compensation with the carrier before the first anniversary of the day on which the flight delay or flight cancellation occurred.
Lost or Damaged Baggage
(1) If a carrier admits to the loss of baggage, or if baggage is lost for more than 21 days or is damaged, the carrier must provide compensation equal to or greater than the sum of
(a) the fees paid for that baggage,
(b) in cases where the Carriage by Air Act applies, the compensation payable in accordance with that Act, and
(c) in cases where the Carriage by Air Act does not apply, the amount that would be payable by the carrier in accordance with the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air set out in Schedule VI to that Act, if the carrier were conducting international carriage of baggage within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Article 1 of that Convention.
(2) If baggage is lost for 21 days or less, the carrier must provide compensation equal to or greater than the sum of
(a) the fees paid for that baggage,
(b) in cases where the Carriage by Air Act applies, the compensation payable in accordance with that Act, and
(c) in cases where the Carriage by Air Act does not apply, the amount that would be payable by the carrier for delay in the carriage of baggage in accordance with the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air set out in Schedule VI to that Act, if the carrier were conducting international carriage of baggage within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Article 1 of that Convention.
II. Seating of Children under 14 Years of Age
(1) In order to facilitate the assignment of a seat to a child who is under the age of 14 years in close proximity to a parent, guardian or tutor, Delta must, at no additional charge
(a) assign a seat before check-in to the child that is in close proximity to their parent, guardian or tutor; or
(b) if Delta does not assign seats in accordance with paragraph (a), do the following:
(i) advise passengers before check-in that the carrier will facilitate seat assignment of children in close proximity to a parent, guardian or tutor at no additional charge at the time of check-in or at the boarding gate,
(ii) assign seats at the time of check-in, if possible,
(iii) if it is not possible to assign seats at the time of check-in, ask for volunteers to change seats at the time of boarding, and
(iv) if it is not possible to assign seats at the time of check-in and no passenger has volunteered to change seats at the time of boarding, ask again for volunteers to change seats before take-off.
Proximity to adult’s seat
(2) Delta must facilitate the assignment of a seat to a child who is under the age of 14 years by offering, at no additional charge,
(a) in the case of a child who is four years of age or younger, a seat that is adjacent to their parent, guardian or tutor’s seat;
(b) in the case of a child who is 5 to 11 years of age, a seat that is in the same row as their parent, guardian or tutor’s seat, and that is separated from that parent, guardian or tutor’s seat by no more than one seat; and
(c) in the case of a child who is 12 or 13 years of age, a seat that is in a row that is separated from the row of their parent, guardian or tutor’s seat by no more than one row.
Difference in price
(3) If a passenger is assigned a seat in accordance with subsection (2) that is in a lower class of service than their ticket provides, Delta must reimburse the price difference between the classes of service, but if the passenger chooses a seat that is in a higher class of service than their ticket provides, Delta may request supplementary payment representing the price difference between the classes of service.