Canada

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Aviation companies are making the pitch to Ottawa that stricter rules designed to boost customer compensation and improve service could put passenger safety at risk — an argument consumer advocates reject as "ridiculous."

The push, made in regulatory submissions and meetings on Parliament Hill, comes on the heels of sweeping reforms to the passenger rights charter announced in April and currently being hashed out by Canada's transport regulator before going into effect next year.

"We want our pilots to be entirely free from any financial consideration when they take a safety-related decision," WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said in a video chat from Ottawa this week, where he was meeting with federal ministers on the reforms.

If a passenger files one due to a flight disruption or denial of boarding, the reformed rules put the onus on the airline to prove the move was for reasons outside its control, such as bad weather.

Airlines make the case that regional routes would be pricier for customers — or simply cancelled outright — as slim profit margins would tip into red ink amid higher costs from complaints and fees.

Advocates Lawford and Gabor Lukacs said the airlines' warnings around routes to smaller or far-flung communities are tantamount to "blackmail," while Bachrach framed the notion of pitting sturdier customer rights against regional flights as a "false choice."

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