Toronto airport closed after Delta plane crash: What to do if your flight is delayed or canceled

An incident involving a Delta flight crashing upon landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport prompted the closure of all runways while emergency crews responded to the situation. All crew members and passengers on flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air using a CRJ900 aircraft, have been accounted for. At least fifteen individuals were injured, two critically.

Departures and arrivals resumed again at 5 pm but due to the airport’s closure, airlines are advising travelers to or from Pearson to check the status of their flight before going to the airport. Here’s what you should know if your flight was delayed or cancelled because of the temporary closure of the airport.

What to do if your flight is delayed or canceled in Canada

If your flight has been affected by the ground stop at the Toronto Pearson International Airport, your airline is required to communicate details of any delay or cancellation to you according to Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR). You should receive a regular flight status update “at least every 30 minutes until a new departure time or flight arrangement has been confirmed.”

As part of the airlines obligations communicating any disruption to your flight they must provide key information, including the reason for the delay or cancellation. “The information should be in plain language without technical jargon and provide enough detail, so passengers can understand the reason given and how this reason caused the delay or cancellation,” states Canada’s APPR.

“Airlines must also tell passengers about the compensation and assistance they may be entitled to, and their rights and options for making a complaint – including to the CTA.”

Besides providing clear key information, the airline operating a disrupted flight that is within its control must to the following for impacted passengers:

Airlines have fewer obligations to impacted passengers when flight disruption is outside their control

There is a catch though. If the delay or cancellation is determined to be outside the airline’s control they are not required to provide minimum assistance such as food, drink or overnight lodging. Nor are they required to pay compensation to affected passengers.

However, the airline must still “make alternate travel arrangements for passengers, or, in certain circumstances, provide a refund.” Likewise, the must follow the communication requirements as stated above.

Canada’s APPR gives twelve situations that are considered outside carrier’s control including “security incidents, medical emergencies, bad weather, or orders from applicable authorities.” The closure of the airport due to safety concerns caused by the Delta plane crash would most likely fall under this category.

However, a customer advocate told CBC that you should not to give up if the airline says it’s beyond their control. “If you concede that something is outside their control, then they don’t owe you compensation,” said executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa John Lawford.

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