"Customer complaints at Toronto's Pearson airport go untracked"

Friday, March 9, 2007

Customer complaints at Pearson airport go untracked
Canada - CBC News 


Travellers passing through Toronto's Pearson International Airport have
reported a spate of frustrating delays in the days leading up to March
Break, the airport's busiest time of the year, but it appears no one is
keeping track of the complaints.

Passengers from across the country with unresolved complaints used to be
able to lodge them with the Air Travel Complaints Commissioner, a position
created in 2000 to document problems.

But that job is sitting vacant. The last complaint report covered incidents
in 2004.

Consumer watchdogs question how travellers can make informed decisions about
what airline to choose without knowing about past problems.

"We think it's unfortunate that the position has been allowed to lapse,"
said David Jeanes, president of the advocacy group Transport 2000. "It's
still necessary for passengers to understand what their choices are when
they travel."

To make matters worse, the country's largest air carrier, Air Canada, no
longer has an ombudsman's office to oversee customer complaints, after
deciding it was not necessary.

"We have a customer service department . And they will deal with people, and
we find that's satisfactory," said airline spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick.

Meanwhile, about 93,000 passengers are expected to pass through Pearson
airport on both Friday and Saturday, a 10 per cent increase over usual
numbers, as families leave on vacation for March Break, according to the
Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

Earlier this week, travellers complained after the airport's computer system
failed, forcing the staff to manually check in customers for some time.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is investigating the computer glitch.

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