Complaints backlog at 'crisis' level

Critics cast doubt on dysfunctional’ regulations and complaint system

- JOSH RUBIN

People line up at Pearson airport’s Terminal 1 in March. The Canadian Transportation Agency says it recieved 43,000 new complaints from air passengers in the 2023-24 fiscal year ending March 31, a new annual high.

The pile keeps getting bigger.

The backlog of air passenger complaints at the Canadian Transportation Agency has climbed past 71,000, its highest level ever and a situation consumer advocates say shows a dysfunctional system which has reached crisis levels.

“Wow,” said John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, when informed of the size of the backlog. “It’s really become a crisis.”

The CTA, a federal agency responsible for ruling on transportation complaints, says that 43,000 new complaints were received in the 2023-24 fiscal year ending March 31, a new annual high.

Tom Oommen, director general of the CTA’s analysis and outreach division, says he understands passenger frustration with the growing backlog, adding that it’s a concern for the agency, too.

“Eliminating the backlog is our top priority at the agency,” said Oommen, who vowed the CTA will eventually get the backlog cleared. “We will get to every complaint, and we will eliminate the backlog.”