Canada’s CTA Seeks Public Input for New Air Service Advertising Rules

In an open online forum, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) is asking Canadians the question, “In an ad, what would help you to easily determine the total price of an airline ticket?”

This is so that Canadians can have a say in new regulations that will establish how airfares and airline fees are advertised in Canada.

The agency is actively seeking the views of Canadians using a website which allows people to post their own ideas, comment on the ideas posted, and vote for the ones they like best. The online consultation will be held until February 26.

Canadians can tell the CTA their views about airline advertising at www.airservicesadvertising.ca/home/idea-forum.

This is the graphic the Canadian Transportation Agency has used to promote its open online forum seeking input from the Canadian public to help shape new regulations to establish how airfares and airline fees are advertised in Canada. The logo includes the name of the CTA's Twitter account and the hash-tag the CTA is using for Tweets on the project

According to the CTA, its findings from the consultation will help the agency in drafting the new airfare-advertising regulations. The CTA will then publish proposed regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette, which will provide a further opportunity for public input.

The Government of Canada announced late last year that it was charging the CTA to develop regulations requiring airlines to include in their advertisements all costs to the carrier, as well as all other fees, charges and taxes.

According to the CTA, the intent of the new regulations is to ensure greater transparency (including fee transparency) and allow consumers to determine the total price of an air service easily, before they make their purchase decisions.

The Canadian Transportation Agency is an independent administrative body of the Government of Canada. It performs two key functions within Canada’s federal transportation system.

One is for the CTA, as a quasi-judicial tribunal and both informally and through formal adjudication, to resolve a range of commercial and consumer transportation-related disputes, including accessibility issues for persons with disabilities. It operates like a court when adjudicating disputes.

Also, as an economic regulator, the CTA makes determinations and issues authorities, licenses and permits to transportation carriers under federal jurisdiction.