The short answer
Cash is owed only when the delay or cancellation was within the airline’s control and not required for safety: crew shortages, scheduled maintenance, aircraft swaps. Weather that makes flying unsafe, air traffic control and strikes don’t qualify. “Safety” covers real safety decisions, but not problems found during scheduled maintenance.
The three categories
| Cause | Examples | Cash? |
|---|---|---|
| Within the airline’s control | Crew or staff shortage, scheduled maintenance (including problems found during it), choice of aircraft, scheduling | Yes, $400 to $1,000 on a large airline |
| Within its control but required for safety | A pilot’s safety decision, a mechanical fault found outside scheduled maintenance | No, but rebooking or refund, and meals and hotel |
| Outside the airline’s control | Weather that makes flying unsafe, air traffic control, security threats, airport problems, medical emergencies, bird strikes, strikes, manufacturer-ordered fixes | No, but rebooking or refund |
“For safety reasons”: look closer
Airlines often give safety as the reason, and it can be genuine. But under the regulation:
- A problem found during scheduled maintenance is within the airline’s control, not a safety exception.
- “Required for safety” means required by law to reduce a risk to passenger safety, such as a pilot’s decision or the airline’s safety management system.
- The exact cause is often only confirmed later: after you write to the airline, or during a complaint to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).
If the explanation was vague, it’s worth asking the airline in writing what happened.
Weather
Weather only counts as outside the airline’s control when it makes safe operation impossible. A storm somewhere along the route doesn’t automatically cover every delay that day.
Strikes
A labour disruption, whether at the airline itself or at an essential service provider such as an airport or air navigation, is outside the airline’s control. No cash is owed, but rebooking and refund rights still apply.
“Your plane was late from an earlier flight”
A delay caused by an earlier disruption takes that earlier event’s category, but only if the airline took all reasonable measures to limit the knock-on effect. If the earlier problem was a crew shortage, your delay is in the airline’s control too.
What the airline must tell you
- The reason for the delay or cancellation, the compensation you may be entitled to, the care it owes you, and how to complain to the CTA.
- During a delay, updates every 30 minutes until there’s a new departure time.
Screenshot the app notifications, emails and texts that give the reason: they’re your evidence if the airline changes its story.