Which airlines owe travellers the most?
No regulator publishes how much compensation each airline owes or pays, so we don't guess. The closest official measure in Canada is the number of complaints passengers file with the Canadian Transportation Agency after failing to resolve a problem with the airline. Here it is, per 100 flights, exactly as the CTA published it.
Source: CTA, Air travel complaints per 100 flights – by airline – October 2024 to September 2025 (CTA page modified 2026-04-10; checked 2026-09-28).
Canadian airline with the highest rate
Flair Airlines: 12.2 per 100 flights
Foreign airline with the highest rate
Air India: 31.8 per 100 flights
Canadian airlines
| # | Airline | Average (4 quarters) | Jul–Sep 2025 (FY 2025–26 Q2) | Apr–Jun 2025 (FY 2025–26 Q1) | Jan–Mar 2025 (FY 2024–25 Q4) | Oct–Dec 2024 (FY 2024–25 Q3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flair Airlines | 12.2 | 8.3 | 10.4 | 16.5 | 13.5 |
| 2 | Sunwing Airlines | 10.8 | — | — | 16.0 | 5.6 |
| 3 | WestJet | 5.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 6.8 | 6.0 |
| 4 | Air Canada | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 5.7 | 4.2 |
| 5 | Air Transat | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 4.8 |
| 6 | Porter Airlines | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
| 7 | Central Mountain Air | 1.5 | — | — | — | 1.5 |
Foreign airlines flying to and from Canada
| # | Airline | Average (4 quarters) | Jul–Sep 2025 (FY 2025–26 Q2) | Apr–Jun 2025 (FY 2025–26 Q1) | Jan–Mar 2025 (FY 2024–25 Q4) | Oct–Dec 2024 (FY 2024–25 Q3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air India | 31.8 | 54.6 | 27.6 | 23.0 | 21.8 |
| 2 | Qatar Airways | 29.3 | 25.6 | 22.0 | 39.6 | 29.9 |
| 3 | Egyptair | 29.1 | 26.9 | 32.6 | 26.2 | 30.5 |
| 4 | Royal Air Maroc | 22.4 | 12.9 | 26.0 | 21.6 | 29.3 |
| 5 | Saudia | 20.6 | 16.0 | 19.2 | 26.5 | 20.8 |
| 6 | Turkish Airlines | 19.2 | 15.8 | 17.4 | 24.0 | 19.7 |
| 7 | Arajet | 18.5 | 23.9 | 24.3 | 16.9 | 8.8 |
| 8 | Etihad Airways | 15.5 | 19.7 | 12.1 | 17.1 | 12.9 |
| 9 | Air France | 11.3 | 8.0 | 7.4 | 15.6 | 14.0 |
| 10 | Lufthansa German Airlines | 10.9 | 7.3 | 7.6 | 12.9 | 15.8 |
| 11 | Air Algérie | 10.0 | 8.5 | 13.6 | 7.4 | 10.3 |
| 12 | LOT Polish Airlines | 9.7 | 4.6 | 8.4 | 10.8 | 14.8 |
| 13 | Emirates | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 9.7 | 6.0 |
| 14 | Austrian Airlines | 7.8 | 5.5 | 4.2 | 10.8 | 10.6 |
| 15 | K.L.M. Royal Dutch Airlines | 6.6 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 9.7 | 7.8 |
| 16 | Condor Flugdienst | 6.1 | 3.7 | 2.0 | — | 12.6 |
| 17 | ZIPAIR | 5.9 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 7.3 | 12.3 |
| 18 | Azores Airlines (Sata Internacional) | 5.4 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 4.6 | 10.7 |
| 19 | Ethiopian Airlines | 5.4 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 8.9 | 4.9 |
| 20 | ITA Airways | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.5 | — | — |
| 21 | Swiss International Air Lines | 5.1 | 4.1 | 1.9 | 6.1 | 8.1 |
| 22 | Air China | 4.8 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 3.9 | — |
| 23 | ALIA – The Royal Jordanian Airlines | 4.7 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 5.6 |
| 24 | Avianca | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 4.3 |
| 25 | Philippine Airlines | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 6.7 |
| 26 | Aer Lingus | 4.1 | 1.6 | 5.5 | 3.7 | 5.6 |
| 27 | Air New Zealand | 3.6 | 1.7 | 5.0 | 5.7 | 1.9 |
| 28 | British Airways | 3.4 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 5.6 |
| 29 | Pakistan International Airlines | 3.4 | — | 3.0 | — | 3.8 |
| 30 | Discover Airlines | 3.1 | — | — | — | 3.1 |
| 31 | Aeroméxico | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 2.7 |
| 32 | JetBlue | 2.7 | 2.6 | — | — | 2.7 |
| 33 | TAP Air Portugal | 2.5 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 2.3 |
| 34 | Copa Airlines | 2.4 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.3 | — |
| 35 | American Airlines | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 1.8 |
| 36 | Play Airlines | 2.3 | — | 3.8 | 3.8 | 2.0 |
| 37 | All Nippon Airways | 2.2 | — | — | 2.2 | — |
| 38 | Cathay Pacific Airways | 2.1 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.4 |
| 39 | China Southern Airlines | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.9 | — | — |
| 40 | Icelandair | 1.8 | 1.2 | — | 2.9 | 1.3 |
| 41 | Eva Airways | 1.7 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| 42 | Japan Airlines | 1.7 | — | — | 1.7 | — |
| 43 | Korean Air | 1.7 | — | 1.3 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| 44 | China Airlines | 1.6 | — | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
| 45 | Hong Kong Airlines | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.8 | — | — |
| 46 | United Airlines | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.4 |
| 47 | Caribbean Airlines | 1.4 | — | 1.4 | — | — |
| 48 | Virgin Atlantic | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.6 | — | — |
| 49 | BermudAir | 1.3 | — | 1.3 | — | — |
| 50 | Delta Air Lines, Inc. | 1.1 | 1.0 | — | 1.2 | 1.0 |
How to read this data
- Only airlines averaging 1 or more complaints per 100 flights to, from or within Canada in at least one quarter, and operating at least 100 flights, are listed.
- Complaints are submitted by passengers after unsuccessful resolution with the airline. They may not have been reviewed yet, and inclusion does not necessarily mean the airline broke the rules.
- The rate is per flight, not per passenger, so it doesn't reflect aircraft size.
- Accessibility complaints are not included. Flight counts come from a third party (Cirium).
A complaint isn't the same as money owed: it can be about refunds, delays, baggage or service. For what you may be owed on a specific flight, use the APPR calculator.
Data coming
US Department of Transportation: Air Travel Consumer Report (complaints per 100,000 passengers)
The DOT site blocked our automated check on 2026-09-28, so we haven't copied any figures yet.
Compensation actually owed or paid, per airline
No regulator we checked publishes the amount of compensation owed or paid by airline. We won't estimate it.