Scott Aalgaard and his daughter Yuki at the airport. The two, along with Aalgaard’s wife, were delayed by six hours when travelling from Toronto to Hartford, Conn. (Submitted by Scott Aalgaard – image credit)
For Scott Aalgaard, it doesn’t add up.
On the morning of July 5, Air Canada informed Aalgaard by email his flight that day from Toronto to Hartford, Conn., had been delayed due to “an unforeseen maintenance issue.”
That afternoon, the reason had changed to either “staffing constraints” or “health and safety initiatives.”
Three days later, Air Canada informed Aalgaard he doesn’t qualify for compensation because his flight was cancelled (instead of delayed) due to a “labour dispute” that was outside the airline’s control.
Aalgaard, a Canadian from B.C. currently living in Middletown, Conn., says the new explanation makes no sense.
“There was no indication that there was any sort of labour dispute,” he said. “It feels to me like the company is throwing darts at a big poster on the wall, trying to pick out reasons and see what will stick.”
The recent travel chaos at some Canadian airports has led to a spate of flight delays and cancellations. And that has sparked a spate of complaints from passengers that some airlines are providing suspect reasons why they were denied compensation for flight disruptions.
Under federal regulations, airlines must compensate passengers up to $1,000 for flight delays of three hours or more.
Because Aalgaard’s flight was delayed by six hours, he, his wife and daughter, whom he was travelling with, would each get $700. However, airlines only have to pay up if the reason for the delay was within their control and not for safety reasons, such as unforeseen mechanical problems.
Aalgaard has filed for compensation with Air Canada despite its claim his flight isn’t eligible. If that doesn’t work out, he plans to file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).
“I don’t want Canada to be a place where big companies can just make up the story as they go along,” he said.
Air Canada
A demand for more details
Aalgaard’s not alone. Shortly after Canada launched its flight delay compensation rules in 2019, thousands of air passengers flooded the Canadian Transportation Agency with complaints they received inadequate reasons for denied compensation.
In November 2021, following a lengthy inquiry that involved all of Canada’s major airlines, the CTA announced it found no evidence the airlines “intentionally misled passengers.” However, the agency said much of the information provided to passengers explaining their flight delays “was inadequate, terse and unclear.”
As a result, the CTA clarified that airlines must explain in “sufficient detail” the reason for a flight delay.
Consumer advocate Tahira Dawood says passengers need that information to assess whether they should dispute their case.
“They cannot challenge [the airlines] if they have limited information, or they do not themselves understand what they’re hearing from the air carriers,” said Dawood, a lawyer with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
CBC
Connie DeMelo of Brantford, Ont., was upset when WestJet rejected her claim for compensation. DeMelo and her husband’s flight from Honolulu to Toronto on May 28 was delayed for almost six hours.
If the delay was caused by WestJet, DeMelo and her husband would each get $400. However, the airline told her in an email that the flight disruption “was outside WestJet’s control.”
WestJet provided no specific reason for the delay.
“They don’t want to take responsibility,” said DeMelo. “If they did give me a reason, I may pursue it even further. But at this point, I don’t know what I’m pursuing.”
Submitted by Connie DeMelo
Air Canada passenger Joshua Cohen received a more detailed explanation why his May 21 flight from Chicago to Toronto was cancelled, but he’s still dissatisfied.
Cohen was rebooked on a flight the following day. He said an Air Canada employee at the Chicago airport assured him the airline would cover his hotel and food costs for the night.
However, when Cohen submitted his expenses for $533.73 US, Air Canada responded by email that he wasn’t eligible for compensation. The airline said his flight cancellation was due to “unforeseen staffing issues” that arose due to the impact of COVID-19, and were outside the airline’s control.
He was offered instead a $100 flight voucher.
“That’s an absolute slap in the face,” said Cohen, who lives in Toronto. He argues staffing issues are within an airline’s control.
“They’re trying everything not to compensate their passengers and try and save some money. It’s just not acceptable.”
CTA says file a complaint
WestJet and Air Canada declined to comment on the specific cases in this story. Both airlines said they adhere to Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations and that they’re currently operating in a challenging environment as the travel industry recovers.
The Canadian Transportation Agency said dissatisfied passengers can file a complaint, the outcome of which may help add clarity to the compensation regulations.
“An important part of our regime is the CTA making decisions on cases and airlines taking account of those decisions in their future actions,” said CTA spokesperson Tom Oomen.
According to the CTA’s decision, WestJet had previously told the passenger he wasn’t entitled to compensation because his original flight had been cancelled for safety reasons due to a crew shortage.
The CTA concluded that crew shortages are generally within the airline’s control and that WestJet “did not sufficiently establish” that the flight cancellation “was unavoidable despite proper planning.”
Cohen says he plans to file a complaint with the CTA, demanding compensation from Air Canada for both his expenses and $1,000 for a flight delay of more than nine hours.
Passenger DeMelo has already filed a CTA complaint.
They may have to wait a while for results. According to the agency, since Dec. 15, 2019, it has received more than 5,154 complaints on the issue, and 70 per cent (3,606) of them have yet to be resolved.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
