Air Transat delay compensation: what you're owed and how to claim

Updated November 1, 2026 · Checked against the regulations as current to September 30, 2026 · By LandedLate

Air Transat owes $400, $700 or $1,000 per passenger, in cash, for a delay or cancellation within its control. The amount depends on how late you reach your final destination: 3 to 6 hours, 6 to 9 hours, or 9 hours or more. No compensation is owed if the cause was outside Air Transat's control or required for safety (a safety label can be challenged); you still get a new flight or a refund, and in safety cases meals (and a hotel overnight) if you were told less than 12 hours ahead. You claim on Air Transat's “Claim for flight disruption” form (a delay claim opens 48 hours after your flight arrives), before the first anniversary of the delay or cancellation (section 19(3)). Air Transat then has 30 days to pay or explain why not. These are the rules in force on November 1, 2026.

Whether your own flight qualifies depends on its details: the reason the airline gave, how late you reached your destination and how much notice you had. Check it free at landedlate.ca/check.

How much Air Transat owes

Air Transat, delay or cancellation within its control
You reached your destination	Per passenger
3 to 6 hours late	$400
6 to 9 hours late	$700
9 hours or more	$1,000
Less than 3 hours late	$0

Per passenger, section 19(1) of the regulations. Data as of November 1, 2026.

Bumped from an overbooked flight for a reason within Air Transat's control? The amounts are $900 if you arrived less than 6 hours late, $1,800 for 6 to 9 hours, $2,400 for 9 hours or more, paid within 48 hours (section 20). For a delay or cancellation within Air Transat's control (not for safety) that you were told about 14 days or less ahead, if you took a refund because the new flight didn't meet your needs, you're still owed at least $400 (section 19(2)). Every amount in one chart

When Air Transat has to pay, and when it doesn't

You're owed

The cause was within Air Transat's control (crew, scheduling, an aircraft change, most avoidable maintenance), you arrived 3+ hours late, and you were told about the delay or cancellation 14 days or less before departure (section 12).

Worth challenging

The form or a reply says the reason “does not entitle you” to compensation, or cites safety or weather without detail. Submit anyway and ask for the evidence.

Not owed

A genuine cause outside its control: weather that made flying your flight unsafe, an air traffic control instruction, a security threat, or a strike. You still get a new flight, or a refund if Air Transat can't rebook you within 48 hours. No meals or hotel are required (section 10(3)).

How to claim from Air Transat

For a delay, wait 48 hours after you land. Air Transat's form takes delay claims only from then on.
Open the “Claim for flight disruption” form at airtransat.com (the address still reads claim-for-flight-delay). Choose the reason, “Flight delay” or “Schedule changes or flight cancellation before departure”, then enter your booking number, first and last name and departure date.
Choose your claim type, passengers and flights. “Claim for compensation” is for the amounts above. “Refund of expenses incurred” is for money you paid yourself, with receipts attached.
Describe what happened in the details box, which takes 1,000 characters at most. Keep to the cause, how late you arrived and the sections that apply; if LandedLate's draft runs longer, trim it to those.
Submit even if the form says you're not entitled. It lets you, and a reason within Air Transat's control can still be argued.
Keep the case number from the confirmation email. You need it to track the claim.

Write my Air Transat claim

Free. LandedLate takes no share of what Air Transat pays you.

The form also exists in French: Réclamation pour perturbation de vol.

Track your Air Transat claim

After you submit, Air Transat's form says you'll shortly get a confirmation email with your case number. To check on the claim, open the claim tracking page and enter the email address you used on the form and that case number. The tool only follows claims made through the online forms. For anything else, Air Transat asks you to reply to its acknowledgement email, because several unrelated emails may delay things.

The certificate of delay is for your insurer

Air Transat also offers a downloadable certificate of delay when a flight arrives more than 15 minutes late, up to 180 days after departure. It's evidence for a travel insurance claim. It doesn't ask Air Transat for anything, so if you arrived 3 or more hours late, file the compensation claim as well.

Booked a Transat package?

If Air Transat operated your package flight, claim the flight compensation from Air Transat. The airline that operates the flight owes it under the regulations (section 2(1)). Problems with the hotel, transfers or the package itself are a separate matter with Transat under its terms and conditions, which ask you to send comments or claims in writing to your travel agent or Transat within 30 days of the date of return.

What Air Transat says when it refuses, and how to answer it

The burden is on Air Transat: in a complaint, a disruption is presumed to be within the airline's control and not required for safety unless the airline proves otherwise (Canada Transportation Act, section 85.07(2)).

If Air Transat says	How to answer it
Maintenance, “required for safety”	The agency found that a delay caused by a heater being switched off, which let a lavatory pipe freeze and rupture, was within the airline's control: the maintenance and ground crew could have prevented it. It ordered $400 per passenger (Anslow v. Sunwing, 20-C-A-2023). Ask what failed and when it was found.
A crew shortage	Staffing is generally within the airline's control. In WestJet v. Lareau (2025 FCA 149), the Federal Court of Appeal found no error in the agency requiring WestJet to show it had a reasonable contingency plan before accepting that a crew cancellation was required for safety, and upheld the $1,000 award. More on crew shortages
Weather	The airline has to show the weather made your flight unsafe to operate. The agency rejected a weather defence backed only by undecoded weather reports and a list of other delays at the airport, and ordered $1,000 (Beauchamp v. WestJet, 68-C-A-2023). More on weather delays
An earlier delayed flight	A knock-on delay counts as its original cause only if the airline took all reasonable steps to limit it (section 10(2)). Moving your crew to rescue another flight is the airline's own decision (Paridon v. Sunwing, 16-C-A-2022).
A travel credit instead of cash	You're entitled to money. A credit only counts if it's worth more, never expires, and you accept it in writing (section 21).

What else Air Transat owes you during the disruption

Food, drink and a means of communication after 2 hours (Air Transat gives meal vouchers), and a hotel with airport transfers if you're stuck overnight, when the cause was within Air Transat's control (including safety) and you were told less than 12 hours ahead (section 14). Not required for weather or other causes outside its control.
On the tarmac: drinks, snacks, working toilets and ventilation, and the chance to get off after 3 hours at an airport in Canada, unless take-off is likely within 3 hours and 45 minutes (sections 8 and 9).
A new flight or a refund after a delay of 3 hours or more or a cancellation (sections 17 and 18). More on cancelled flights and refunds
Refunds of extras you didn't get, such as paid seat selection (section 18.1).

How long Air Transat takes to pay, and what to do after day 30

Air Transat says it will respond within a maximum of 30 days of receiving your claim.

By day 30: Air Transat must pay or explain. The regulations give it 30 days from receiving your claim to send the money or say why it isn't owed (section 19(4)). A reply saying your claim is approved or being reviewed doesn't stop that clock.
After day 30, or after a refusal: write back once. Quote your case number. Give the date you claimed, and ask for the payment, or for the cause and the evidence behind a refusal. Write the follow-up · Answer a refusal · More on unpaid claims
Then, if you need to, complain to the Canadian Transportation Agency. It's free. Your original claim counts as writing to Air Transat: you can file 30 days after you sent it, or as soon as it's refused.

Expect a long wait at the agency: it says it may take more than 24 months before an officer reviews a complaint, and about 98,000 complaints were waiting, as reported on September 24, 2026 (The Canadian Press). How long the agency takes. How to file a complaint with the agency

Questions

When can I submit an Air Transat delay claim?

48 hours after your flight arrives. Air Transat's form won't accept a delay claim before then. File it before the first anniversary of the delay or cancellation (section 19(3) of the regulations).

How long does Air Transat take to pay compensation?

Air Transat says it will respond within a maximum of 30 days of receiving your claim. The regulations require more than a reply: within 30 days it must pay or explain why compensation isn't payable (section 19(4)). If day 30 passes with neither, follow up in writing and then complain to the Canadian Transportation Agency.

How do I track my Air Transat claim?

After you submit, Air Transat emails a confirmation with your case number. Enter that number and the email address you used on the form on its claim-tracking page. The tool only covers claims made through the online forms.

Air Transat's form says I'm not eligible, or it won't accept my claim. What now?

Submit it anyway and explain why you think the cause was within Air Transat's control: the form lets you finish even when it says the reason doesn't entitle you, and Air Transat says its customer relations team then looks at it more closely. If it still refuses, ask in writing for the cause and the evidence behind it, because the airline has to prove the cause in a complaint (Canada Transportation Act, section 85.07(2)). Then complain to the Canadian Transportation Agency.

I booked a Transat vacation package. Who do I claim from?

Claim the flight compensation from Air Transat if it operated your flight (section 2(1) of the regulations). Hotel and package problems go to Transat under its terms and conditions, which ask for written claims within 30 days of the date of return.

Is the Air Transat certificate of delay the same as claiming compensation?

No. The certificate is a document for your travel insurer, available when your flight arrived more than 15 minutes late, up to 180 days after departure. Compensation under the regulations is a separate claim on the "Claim for flight disruption" form, and starts at 3 hours late.

What if my Air Transat flight was operated by another airline?

Claim from the airline that operated the flight. Air Transat says so on its claim form, and the regulations put the duty on the operating carrier (section 2(1)).

Do I get compensation for a 2-hour Air Transat delay?

No. Compensation starts when you reach your final destination 3 or more hours late. At 2 hours you're owed food, drink and a means of communication if the cause was within Air Transat's control and you were told less than 12 hours ahead (section 14).

Air Transat cancelled my flight and rebooked me. Am I still owed compensation?

Yes, if the cancellation was within Air Transat's control and not required for safety, and you were told 14 days or less before departure. The amount depends on how late the new flight got you to your destination, compared with the arrival time on your original ticket: $400 for 3 to 6 hours, $700 for 6 to 9 hours, $1,000 for 9 hours or more (sections 12 and 19(1)). In the same situation, if you took a refund instead of the new flight, you're owed $400 (section 19(2)).

Sources

General information, not legal advice.