Advocate accuses Air Canada of a lack of transparency on passenger refunds

Photo: The Canadian Press

A consumer rights group says Air Canada is not being straight with the public on the issue of customer refunds, even as it seeks a bailout package from the government.

In a meeting with Parliament's transport committee Thursday, David Rheault, Air Canada's managing director for government and community relations, refused to provide details about the number of passengers affected by the lack of refunds, saying the information could be commercially sensitive.

Gabor Lukacs, the head of advocacy group Air Passenger Rights, says the airline is not being forthright and that it should be required to divulge that information as a condition for receiving public money.

The consumer rights group has estimated that as of Sept. 30, around 3.9 million air passengers have been denied a refund for flights they did not take.

Rheault also told MPs Thursday that Air Canada will not issue refunds to passengers unless it receives a bailout from the government.

Air Canada says that it is not required to issue the refunds and that the company needs to preserve liquidity for when air travel restarts after the pandemic.