Air Canada agrees to pay for flight cancellation costs, including hotel stays

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Air Canada says it is expanding its reimbursement policy for customers affected by widespread cancellations during the recent flight attendants’ strike.

The airline said that in addition to refunding customers who booked alternative transportation because of cancelled flights between Aug. 15 and Aug. 23, it will now also cover “reasonable expenses” for hotel stays, meals and other related costs during that period.

“We deeply apologize to all customers whose travel plans were disrupted, and we’re committed to making things right for all customers — particularly those who were stranded during their trip,” said Mark Nasr, executive vice-president and chief operations officer at Air Canada, in a press release.

The company said claims must be supported with receipts, which can be submitted through Air Canada’s online customer relations portal.

It said it may take four to six weeks to reimburse affected customers “due to the anticipated volume” of claims.

On Wednesday, Air Canada announced it would cover “certain transportation expenses” incurred by customers while getting to their destinations during the recent work stoppage.

The airline said customers would qualify if they had a cancelled flight originally scheduled to depart from Aug. 15 to Aug. 23, Air Canada was unable to rebook them, and they then made alternative arrangements themselves.

It said only those who originally booked directly with Air Canada are eligible to request a reimbursement for alternative transportation through its new submission page. The form excludes passengers who booked their original flights via Aeroplan, a travel agency or another airline.

Air Canada also stipulated that customers would be entitled to reimbursement if they paid “a reasonable fare on another airline” within five days of their original departure date. Such fares must be in the same or lower cabin to their original flights.

It added customers could also submit claims for alternative transportation options such as bus, ferry or car expenses.

For hotel and meal expenses incurred during the disruption, Air Canada had initially advised customers they may be able to claim some of those other costs by contacting their travel insurance provider. It had said on its website that the airline itself does “not cover hotel stays or meal expenses, or other non-transportation related expenses.”

The airline said it continues to ramp up its operations and expects to provide close to its full network schedule by Friday.

An online dashboard tracking Air Canada’s service resumption said Thursday afternoon that 98 per cent of domestic flights were expected to operate over the next 24 hours, along with 99 per cent of U.S. flights and 94 per cent of other international routes.

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