Canada raises maximum airline passenger rights fine to $1 million

The federal government says it will increase the maximum fine for airlines that repeatedly break the air passenger protection rules from $250,000 to $1 million. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said the larger penalty is meant to discourage repeated violations and reinforce the rules that require airlines to compensate passengers for delays or cancellations that are within an airline’s control. The regulations have been in place since 2019. The move comes as the Canadian Transportation Agency faces a large backlog of passenger complaints, which the agency said recently had reached 95,000 cases. The government also says it plans to use a neutral thirdparty dispute resolution system to help clear those cases, but it has not yet said which organisation will take on that role.