Image: Pixabay
A local man has created a platform to help flyers in Canada find out if they’re entitled to compensation for delayed and cancelled flights.
In light of the recent implementation of new airline passenger protection regulations, Colin James Belyea created FlightComp.ca, a free website helps gives passengers the information they need to get the compensation they deserve from airlines.
“I made FlightComp.ca to help you know exactly what you’re titled to and how to claim it when your flight is delayed or cancelled,” said Belyea. “It just helps cut through all the chaos that happens when you’re travelling by air and all of the jargon that comes with trying to understand government regulations and dealing with large corporations that may not have your best interest in mind.”
Users fill out a simple questionnaire regarding the cause and length of the delay and the airline that they’re using. Once the information is submitted, you’re provided with a report that’s customized based on your answers to give you some guidance on how to proceed. The report lets you know if you’re entitled to things like meal vouchers, accommodations and monetary compensation.
“We provide all that information upfront to make sure you have a little bit of power in that situation,” said Belyea. “You can feel pretty helpless and powerless when the airline just says, ‘sorry, you’re not going where you’re going.’ We want to help people in that situation.”
Belyea got the idea to create FlightComp.ca from his own personal experience dealing with flight delays and cancellations. As a remote worker who travels around the world for work, he’s experienced his fair share of delays and cancellations.
“As a Maritimers who travels a lot for work, especially in the winter, you get stuck at the hub airports once in a while,” he said. “It’s a very unpleasant experience. Sometimes it’s because of the weather, sometimes it’s because they have smaller planes. A couple of times it has happened to me and I was struck by this sense of powerlessness that I could just feel from the people around me and I felt it myself. I just got to thinking, there’s got to be a way to make this better.”
Belyea’s not a lawyer, and the website does not give legal advice. But FlightComp.ca provides the information passengers need so they can advocate for themselves and get what they are entitled to.
“I’ve structured the site to follow the actual [federal] documents as closely as possible. You may have a different interpretation for each airline, but we’re trying to keep neutral. ‘This is what the government says you should be entitled to in this situation,'” said Belyea. “Everything else is up to you. It’s for informational purposes only. It’s not legal advice. But once you get that information, we also make it easier for you to just click a button and make your claim through the airline.”
Though it’s free to use the website, Belyea has set up a Patreon page for those who wish to support. The funds will be used to keep the site up and running.
“That’s just to help cover the costs because it costs money to host a website and it takes a lot of time to build something like this,” he said. “I’m trying to make sure that it’s not going too far out of pocket.”
Ultimately he hopes the website empowers passengers across Canada.
“To give them a sense of ‘I know what is mine here. I know what I can and can’t do. I know what I should and shouldn’t have. Let’s work with that,'” said Belyea. “It creates a bit more of an equitable relationship.”
A version of this story was published in Huddle, an online business news publication based in Saint John. Huddle is an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
