What are my rights if I'm denied boarding?
"Denied boarding" has a specific meaning under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).
It occurs when you are not permitted to occupy a seat because the number of seats that may be occupied on the flight is less than the number of passengers who checked in by the required time, hold confirmed reservations and valid travel documents, and are present at the boarding gate at the required boarding time.
Commercial overbooking is the classic example, but it is not the only one. Denied boarding can also occur where an aircraft is replaced with one that has fewer usable seats or where some seats cannot be occupied.
This is different from being refused transportation. If an airline will not carry you because you arrived late, lack the required travel documents, present a security or health issue, fail to comply with airline rules, or engage in prohibited conduct, that is generally not "denied boarding" under the APPR. Different rules apply.
What the airline owes after denied boarding depends on why it happened.
Where the denial of boarding is within the airline's control and not required for safety, the passenger receives the strongest protection. The carrier must:
- Provide the information required by section 13, including the reason, potential compensation and available recourse.
- Follow the volunteer and boarding-priority rules in section 15.
- Provide the standards of treatment in section 16.
- Provide alternate transportation or, where the section 17 requirements are met, a refund.
- Pay standardized compensation of $900 to $2,400 under section 20.
Where the denied boarding is within the airline's control but required for safety, the carrier must still follow the volunteer and priority rules, provide food, communication and accommodation where required, and provide section 17 alternate-travel or refund rights. Section 20 compensation is not payable.
An example can be a mechanical problem that makes certain seats unusable or requires the airline to substitute a smaller aircraft for safety reasons.
Where denied boarding is caused by a situation outside the airline's control, the APPR protections are narrower. The carrier must provide the information required by section 13 and alternate transportation under section 18. The section 15 volunteer process, section 16 standards of treatment and section 20 standardized compensation do not apply to an outside-control denial of boarding.
Who gets bumped first on an overbooked flight?
The APPR does not create a list of passengers who should be bumped first. It does the opposite: it identifies passengers who receive priority for boarding.
Before involuntarily denying boarding for a reason within the airline's control or within its control but required for safety, the carrier must first ask all passengers whether anyone is willing to give up their seat voluntarily.
If you volunteer in exchange for a benefit, the airline must give you written confirmation of the agreed benefit before the flight departs.
That written confirmation matters. A voluntary arrangement is a deal between you and the airline. Make sure it states exactly what you were promised: the amount or benefit, your replacement flight and any other agreed terms.
If the airline cannot find enough volunteers and involuntary denied boarding becomes necessary, section 15 requires it to give boarding priority in this order:
- An unaccompanied minor.
- A person with a disability and their support person, service animal or emotional support animal, if any.
- A passenger travelling with family members.
- A passenger who was previously denied boarding on the same ticket.
Those passengers should therefore be among the last considered for involuntary denied boarding.
The APPR also provides strong protection once a passenger is already on the aircraft. An airline must not deny boarding to a passenger who has already boarded unless removing that passenger is required for safety.
The volunteer and boarding-priority rules apply to denied boarding within the airline's control and to denied boarding required for safety. They do not apply under the APPR where the denied boarding is caused by a situation outside the carrier's control.
Compensation amounts: $900, $1,800, $2,400
Section 20 provides standardized compensation where the denied boarding is within the carrier's control and not required for safety.
The amount is based on how late you ultimately arrive at the destination shown on your original ticket compared with your original scheduled arrival.
| Arrival delay at your destination | Compensation |
|---|---|
| Less than 6 hours | $900 |
| 6 hours to under 9 hours | $1,800 |
| 9 hours or more | $2,400 |
Unlike delay and cancellation compensation, the amount does not depend on whether the airline is classified as a large or small carrier.
Compensation is assessed per passenger. If four passengers are involuntarily denied boarding and each qualifies for compensation, each passenger has a separate potential entitlement.
Section 20 compensation is also unusual because it begins immediately. Even an arrival delay of less than three hours falls into the $900 band. The three-hour threshold that applies to ordinary delay and cancellation compensation does not apply to denied boarding.
The compensation must ordinarily be paid in money.
Under section 21, the airline can offer another form of compensation only if the alternative has a greater monetary value than the cash entitlement, the airline tells you its monetary value in writing, the alternative does not expire, and you confirm in writing that you understand your right to money and choose the alternative instead.
That rule is different from the deal offered to a volunteer. A voluntary benefit negotiated under section 15 is whatever the passenger and airline mutually agree to. The $900, $1,800 and $2,400 section 20 amounts apply to qualifying involuntary denied boarding, not to a passenger who willingly gives up a seat in exchange for an agreed benefit.
When the airline must pay you
Denied-boarding compensation is designed to be paid quickly.
Section 20 requires the airline to provide the compensation as soon as it is operationally feasible and, in every case, no later than 48 hours after the time boarding was denied.
If the airline pays before you arrive at your destination, it calculates the amount based on the expected arrival time of the replacement flight.
If the airline cannot provide the compensation before the boarding time of the replacement flight, it must give you written confirmation of the amount it owes.
That written confirmation is important. Ask for it before boarding the replacement flight if the airline has not already paid you.
If the replacement flight eventually arrives later than expected and the increased delay puts you into a higher compensation band, the airline must adjust the amount.
For example, suppose the airline expects your replacement flight to arrive five hours late and confirms compensation of $900. If the replacement itinerary ultimately gets you to the destination ten hours late, the compensation must be increased to $2,400.
The APPR does not require passengers to submit a section 19-style compensation request within one year before denied-boarding compensation becomes payable. Section 20 places the payment obligation directly on the carrier.
If the airline does not pay within 48 hours, preserve the evidence and pursue the unpaid amount. A separate limitation period may apply to any later court or tribunal proceeding, so an unpaid claim should not be left indefinitely.
Volunteering versus involuntary denial
Volunteering and involuntary denied boarding are legally different.
When the airline asks for volunteers, it is trying to solve the seat shortage by agreement. You may accept the airline's offer, negotiate for something better or decline and retain your seat subject to the airline's eventual boarding decision.
If you volunteer, the fixed section 20 compensation amounts do not automatically apply. Your entitlement is based on the benefit you agreed to receive.
That makes the written confirmation required by section 15 particularly important. Before giving up your seat, make sure the airline's written offer records the compensation or benefit and any replacement travel that formed part of the agreement.
There is nothing wrong with using the statutory denied-boarding amounts as a practical reference point when deciding whether an airline's voluntary offer is worth accepting. But the legal basis is different.
Involuntary denied boarding occurs where you did not agree to give up the seat and the airline nevertheless does not permit you to occupy one because there are fewer seats that may be occupied than eligible passengers awaiting boarding.
Be cautious if the airline later describes the situation as voluntary.
Accepting a replacement flight after being told that you have no seat on the original aircraft does not necessarily mean you volunteered to give up the original seat. The relevant question is whether you willingly agreed to surrender the seat in exchange for an offered benefit.
Preserve any written offer, boarding pass, rebooking notice and communication showing how the decision was made.
What to do at the gate
- Remain available for boarding. Make sure you have checked in on time, have valid travel documents and are at the gate by the airline's required boarding time. Do not leave before the airline clearly confirms what is happening.
- Ask why you are not being boarded. The distinction between overbooking, an aircraft substitution, safety, an outside-control event and refusal to transport can change your rights. Write down the explanation and the time it was given.
- Ask whether volunteers were requested. If the denial is within the airline's control or required for safety, the airline must seek volunteers before involuntarily denying boarding.
- Ask for the compensation or written confirmation. If section 20 applies and the airline has not paid before your replacement flight boards, ask for written confirmation of the amount owed.
- Ask for food and communication. Where the denied boarding is within the airline's control or required for safety, section 16 requires reasonable food and drink and access to communication while you wait for the replacement flight. Unlike the ordinary section 14 delay rules, there is no two-hour waiting threshold for this denied-boarding treatment.
- Ask for accommodation if the wait is overnight. Where section 16 applies and the airline expects you to wait overnight for the replacement flight, it must offer reasonable hotel or comparable accommodation and transportation to and from it.
- Keep everything. Retain your original boarding pass, new itinerary, written compensation confirmation, any volunteer offer, airline messages and receipts.
If compensation has not been paid within 48 hours, put the demand in writing.
We recommend sending a written demand by registered mail or another trackable delivery method to an appropriate published address for the carrier. Keep an exact copy of the letter and attachments together with the proof of delivery.
If the airline says the denial was required for safety or outside its control, ask it to identify the precise reason and factual basis for that classification.
In a complaint to the Canadian Transportation Agency, the statutory burden is on the airline to prove that a disputed denial of boarding was outside its control or required for safety.
A CTA complaint or, where jurisdiction exists, a provincial court or tribunal proceeding may provide an enforcement route if the airline does not pay.