Air Canada testing third-party ADR process to resolve APPR cases

Air Canada is beginning a limited pilot of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process to test its effectiveness in settling customer claims for compensation filed under Canada’s Airline Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).

For the test, the airline is inviting randomly selected customers to volunteer to transfer information from their outstanding CTA claims to an independent and impartial third-party ADR provider that will decide on their claims within 90 days after full information is received from both parties.

Outcomes decided under the pilot will not be binding on customers, unless they accept them. Following the pilot, Air Canada will evaluate the results and consult with government on possible next steps.

Marc Barbeau, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Air Canada, explained that: “Everyone wants a swift and satisfactory resolution when disputes arise over travel disruptions. To achieve this, we are proposing the use of ADR in Canada for air travel, an independent, fair and effective method to quickly and fairly resolve air passenger claims that is widely used in Europe.”

Barbeau continued: “As a first step, we have designed a limited pilot for a randomly selected group of our customers to transfer information from their CTA claim to ADR without any obligation to accept the result or give up their spot in the CTA’s queue.”

And Barbeau added: “For customers, based on experience elsewhere, ADR is expected to deliver a fast, impartial, and reasoned response to their claims. For airlines, it has the potential to address customer concerns, bring efficiency and consistency to the process, and reduce issues associated with unresolved claims by shortening the adjudication timeline.”

Air Canada has consulted with Transport Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency on the design of the pilot project. For the pilot, the airline has selected Canada Aviation Dispute Resolution (CADR), an independent, firm that specializes in resolving air travel complaints.

CADR is a subsidiary of The CDRL Group, a not-for-profit group which is certified in the UK and several other European countries to provide ADR services related to aviation complaints.

ADR Pilot Project

The airline has invited 500 customers to volunteer to transfer information from their outstanding APPR claims currently filed with the CTA claim directly to CADR.

For customers who agree to take part:

• They can easily agree to their CTA case information and documentation to be automatically transferred electronically to CADR. There is no need to re-enter any data, documents or information.
• A CADR arbitrator will review their documents and Air Canada’s response.
• Customers have an opportunity to reply to Air Canada’s submission.
• A decision will be issued within 90 days of complete information being received from both parties
• All decisions are binding for Air Canada but not on the customer, who can decline the arbitrator’s decision and continue with the regular CTA process.
• There is no cost to participate in the pilot and no impact on the customer’s claims before the CTA.

Go to www.aircanada.com for more.