Air Canada strike: What are passengers’ rights? [Video]

As contract negotiations continue, passengers face potential headaches from cancelled flights and trip disruptions as early as Sunday.

While Air Canada has shared advice for travellers ahead of a possible pilots strike, an airline passenger rights advocate has more tips for Canadians who may be affected.

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Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passenger Rights, an independent non-profit advocacy group in Halifax, advises travellers to avoid cancelling flights themselves so they can hold Air Canada liable for extra expenses. The airline must refund your airfare, in the original form of payment, if you choose not to travel after the airline cancelled your flight, he said.

“So my recommendation to passengers is always to wait until the airline cancels and then you have far more rights,” Lukacs said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday, noting Canada’s …