TORONTO — The number of air travel complaints currently in the Canadian Transportation Agency queue is nearing 100,000 – and with the backlog mounting by the day, there are calls for reform.
Aviation expert John Gradek told CTV News that some dissatisfied air travellers are giving up the fight, abandoning their claims because they’re not sure they’ll ever see restitution.
He said Canada needs a better system: “Basically reduce these numbers of complaints that are either showing up at the CTA or, in my opinion, most of them aren’t showing up at the CTA because Canadians know they’re going to wait two to three years to be handled and they’ve just given up.”
The backlog has been growing since the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) came into effect in 2019, setting compensation amounts for flight delays, cancellations and the like.
Three years ago, in March 2023 when travel was booming post-pandemic, the number of air passenger complaints to Canada’s transport regulator had more than tripled to 42,000 over 12 months.
By mid-August 2025, two days before the Air Canada flight attendant strike started, the backlog was about 85,000.
As of last month, when the CTA confirmed to the CBC that it would be looking into the recent flight disruptions in Puerto Vallarta, the backlog was 92,500.
Making matters worse, as Gradek noted to CTV, a push by the federal government to compel airlines to pay for passenger complaints resolved by the CTA has so far gone nowhere.
In September 2024 the CTA launched a one-month consultation on the proposed reforms, which would apply to valid customer complaints processed and settled by the regulator. According to the proposal, airlines would be charged $790 for each passenger complaint resolved by the CTA, regardless of which party wins the dispute.
At that time the agency estimated it would be able to close just over 22,600 air travel complaints per year, amounting to roughly $17.9 million in fees charged to airlines, and said the charge aimed to cover 60% of the projected $29.8-million annual cost of handling eligible complaints.
