Complaint about a flight delay? It could take nearly three years to resolve, study finds

Passengers who are filing air travel complaints, for issues such as flight delays or lost baggage, may be waiting nearly three years for a resolution, according to a new study.

“The analysis of air passenger complaints handled by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) reveals that passengers now wait an average of 987 days, nearly three years, for a decision, underscoring growing public frustration over lengthy delays,” legal tech company Courtready said in a news release about its study.

Courtready said it analyzed 38,104 air passenger complaint outcomes handled by the CTA between September 2023 and September 2025.

The types of complaints included in the study were flight disruptions within and outside of the carriers’ control (which made up the majority of complaints at nearly 85 per cent), followed by baggage complaints, issues with ticket, reservation and loyalty programs, refusal to transport, denial of boarding, and issues with travelling minors.

Flight and tarmac delays, cancellations, and denials of boarding fit under the category of flight disruptions .

According to the CTA, denied boarding occurs when “a passenger has a valid ticket for a flight, but is not allowed to occupy a seat on board the aircraft because the number of passengers who have checked in and are at the gate on time is greater than the number of available seats that can be occupied.” Carriers can refuse to transport a passenger, according to the Canadian Aviation Regulations , “if at the time of check-in or at boarding the actions or statements of the person indicate that the person may present a risk to the safety of the aircraft, persons or property.”

An issue involving complaints about a travelling minor can be, for example, when an airline does not seat a child under the age of 14 beside or near a parent or guardian, which airlines must take steps to do “at the earliest opportunity and at no extra cost.”

During the time period analyzed, WestJet received the most complaints (13,005), followed by Air Canada (11,257), then Flair Airlines (3,891).

Roughly 50 per cent of all complaints were dismissed, the study found. Around 33 per cent of complaints resulted in an airline being ordered to compensate for inconvenience, nearly 12 per cent resulted in an airline being ordered to compensate for expenses, and nearly five per cent resulted in an airline being ordered to refund.

Complaint decisions have hit a near record low, the study found. September 2025 was the second-lowest monthly volume of decisions since March 2024. There were 1,348 decisions, down 45 per cent from the peak number of decisions, which was 2,485 in August 2024. There are also fewer cases being processed, with decisions issued by the CTA declining steadily from 7,076 in the third quarter of 2024 to 4,301 in the third quarter of 2025.

“As delays continue to plague the CTA, more Canadians are turning to the provincial courts to resolve air passenger complaints,” Courtready said.

The raw data used in the study is published by CTA.

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