The British Columbia government has announced it will fine BC Ferries for flight cancellations due to crew shortages.
The measure was announced during question period in B.C.’s legislature Tuesday morning and will come into effect on April 1, 2024, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure confirmed in an email.
If a flight is canceled due to lack of crew, the cost will be $7,000 on major routes and $1,000 on some minor routes.
“While these penalties will not fully compensate those whose important sailings have just been canceled, we hope that some benefits will be returned to ferry users,” the ministry said. There is.
“We are still finalizing how penalties will be applied.”
BC Ferries has been battling a crew shortage for months, with some sailings canceled due to staffing shortages.
In August, a company report revealed that about four out of 10 canceled flights last year were due to staffing issues at the ferry company.
According to the report, of the more than 2,800 flight cancellations from April 2022 to March 2023, about 1,100 were due to crew shortages. This number is more than double the previous year’s 522 crew-related cancellations, compared to just 25 crew-related cancellations in fiscal year 2020.
The ministry said the penalty was an addition to the new domestic ferry service contract to “hold companies accountable for the services they are contracted to provide.”
“We know it has been a frustrating summer for many ferry users, with canceled sailings and resulting long wait times,” the newspaper wrote.
– with files from Simon Little
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