Airline Rejected Your Claim? How to Escalate to the CTA (and Win)

## The CTA is where stubborn denials go to die The Canadian Transportation Agency runs a complaint resolution process for exactly this situation: you claimed, the airline denied or ignored you for 30 days, and you believe the rules are on your side. ## Before you file — the checklist A CTA complaint succeeds on documentation. You'll want: - Your **booking confirmation** and boarding passes - The **airline's stated reason** for the disruption (ask in writing if you don't have it) - Your **original claim letter** and its date - The **airline's denial** (or proof of 30 days of silence) - **Arrival delay evidence** — the flight's actual arrival time vs scheduled - **Receipts** for meals, hotels, transport if standards of treatment weren't provided ## How the process runs 1. **File online** at the CTA's air travel complaints portal (free for you; the airline pays a processing fee). 2. **Facilitation/mediation** — most complaints resolve here, often with the airline simply paying. 3. **Adjudication** — if unresolved, a CTA officer decides based on the documents. Decisions are binding. Be aware: the CTA has a substantial backlog, so escalation is a patience game — which is exactly why a strong, complete file matters. Complaints with clean documentation resolve faster at the facilitation stage because the airline can see it would lose. ## The realistic strategy Escalation works best as a **credible threat executed properly**: a well-argued follow-up letter telling the airline you will file — with the complete evidence package attached — often gets payment without the wait. If they still refuse, you file the same package with the CTA. AirDelays's CTA Pack assembles all of it — evidence index, correspondence log, executive summary — into one submission-ready PDF. *General information, not legal advice. AirDelays is not affiliated with the CTA.*