Advocate Says After Two Years, the CTA’s ‘Resolution Office’ Isn’t Helping Air Pax with Complaints

Two years after the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) launched a resolution office to deal with a backlog of complaints from air passengers, an advocate says the system is not helping.

“It is going to take them more than two years to deal with just a current backlog,” Air Passenger Rights founder Gabor Lukacs told CTV News. The backlog is estimated to be about 85,000 complaints – which would take more than two years to resolve at current rates.

The number of complaints continues to grow, and Lukacs says the CTA is not transparent about how complaints are handled and how many are resolved in favour of passengers.

 “In Canada, they have this system where the airline will say, ‘Well, it’s outside our control, so we don’t have to pay you anything,” Lukacs told CTV, adding that, from the airline’s perspective, it’s easier and more profitable to refuse to pay and instead tell passengers to file a complaint through the CTA.

The CTA has the power to fine airlines that don’t obey the law, but they’re not using those powers, Lukacs said.

The CTA has proposed charging airlines nearly $800 for each eligible complaint, but airlines are pushing back.

“Charging airlines $790 for each complaint, including the vast majority when we are found to have applied the legislation correctly, would not be balanced nor an equitable way of addressing the issue,” said Air Canada in a statement. 

The CTA said it closed over 33,600 complaints in 2024-2025, but does not report how many were resolved in favour of passengers. 

WestJet has also come out against the proposed complaint fee. 

“The Canadian Transportation Agency’s punitive proposal reflects a troubling disconnect between the Agency and the realities of Canada’s economy and aviation sector,” the airline said. 

“Imposing additional costs on Canadian travellers, in an industry already oversaturated with high government taxes and fees, is very concerning — particularly during an affordability crisis in Canada.”

Lukacs said he’s taking the CTA to court due to the agency’s lack of transparency and long waiting times for resolution.

He says that if passengers have a complaint against an airline, a better choice is to take the dispute to small claims court.