I’d like to think that I have pretty reasonable (low) expectations of customer relations departments at airlines, but even by that standard, this seems especially bad to me.
An unreliable trip to Canada on American Airlines
I recently wrote about a trip that Ford had booked to Canada on American, as he was scheduled to fly American from Miami to Toronto and then American from Montreal to Miami:
- American canceled his outbound flight
- American delayed his return flight, so he misconnected, causing an overnight in Philadelphia
Obviously operational issues happen, but what was so frustrating is how American handled the situation on the return. Usually it’s hard to hold airlines accountable, though in this case there’s at least some recourse.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has some great consumer protections, entitling passengers to cash compensation in the event of delays or cancelations within a carrier’s control. This is somewhat similar to the EU261 policy in Europe, and it clearly outlines what passengers are entitled to in the event of operational disruptions.
So, while Ford would have preferred for this trip to just go smoothly, he’s actually due quite a bit of cash compensation under these regulations.
Let me also emphasize that there are clear guidelines about how airlines have to handle complaints regarding government mandated air passenger rights. For example, here’s American’s page about air passenger rights involving Canada. The CTA also requires airlines to either issue compensation within 30 days, or state why compensation isn’t due.
American Airlines tries to ignore compensation claims twice
Since the outbound and return were two separate tickets, Ford emailed customer relations twice, around three weeks apart. In both cases he outlined that he’s looking for the cash compensation he is entitled to under Canadian regulations, and he even linked to American’s webpage outlining passenger rights. He explained what happened (that the operational issues were within American’s control) and what he should be entitled to.
He sent his first complaint on June 26, and received the following response on June 27:
Thank you for contacting us.
I’m truly sorry to hear about your experience. It is always our goal to run a timely and reliable operation, and we are sorry to see we missed the mark on your trip. We’re paying careful attention to the feedback our customers are providing us and the details you shared with us have been made available to our leadership to be used to improve our service.
As an AAdvantage® member, your business means a great deal to us, and we’d like to ask for another chance to rebuild your confidence. As a tangible form of our apology, we’ve deposited miles into your AAdvantage® account. These miles will be visible within 24 hours.
From all of us at American Airlines, we’re glad you chose to fly with us and look forward to caring for you on your next journey.
He then responded with the following:
Thank you for the response, but this does not address my concerns. As I explained in the email, I’m seeking the cash compensation I am entitled to under Canadian law, where my ticket originated. You can find American’s passenger rights page for tickets originating in Canada here.
I appreciate your prompt help with this.
He hasn’t heard from American since then. American does have up to 30 days to issue compensation, so the airline has until around July 26.
Ford submitted his second complaint on July 15, and received a response on July 16. Anyone want to guess how that read? Well, it was the same as the first email, word-for-word.
He then responded with the following:
Thank you for the response, but this does not address my concerns. As I explained in the email, I’m seeking the cash compensation I am entitled to under Canadian law, given the ticket I was booked on. You can find American’s passenger rights page for tickets originating in Canada here.
Allow me to remind you that in line with Canadian regulations, American has 30 days to provide the compensation promised by Canadian law. I look forward to your prompt response.
Look, my expectations of airline customer relations departments are pretty low when it comes to them actually caring about feedback. But when the airline chooses to blatantly ignore government regulations, I’d consider that to be a problem.
I’m just confused by American’s strategy here:
- Does American just not read emails, and copy and paste the same response for everyone, no matter what’s contained in the email?
- Does American think that the best course of action to avoid paying compensation is to just offer some AAdvantage bonus miles, and hope that people will go away? “Boy, I mean, I’m entitled to $1,000 CAD under the law, but I guess 5,000 AAdvantage miles will do!”
I’ll be sure to report back on how this goes. If American isn’t living up to its obligations under Canadian law, a CTA complaint will be filed.
I’m curious, if anyone else has been entitled to government mandated compensation from American, did the airline actually follow the law, or try to just ignore it?
Bottom line
In some cases, airlines are required to pay cash compensation under the law, with clearly defined rules. Ford had a recent trip to Canada where American was unreliable in both directions, which entitles him to cash compensation.
American seems to be ignoring the law, and just trying to offer some AAdvantage bonus miles as compensation. As an isolated incident, I would have assumed that maybe the agent just didn’t read the email correctly. But now twice in a row, American has tried to ignore these claims.
What’s your take on how American customer relations is handling this?
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