Data reveals Canada’s worst airline; spam calls are here to stay: CBC’s Marketplace cheat sheet

Miss something this week? Don't panic. CBC's Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need.

Want this in your inbox? Get the Marketplacenewsletter every Friday.

Flair is Canada's worst airline when it comes to passenger complaints, according to federal data

Apparently the ultra-low cost of Flair is coming at a cost, with more than 20 per cent of its flights generating some sort of complaint to the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA), federal data shows.

While gripes about air travel are not unusual, the CTA, the quasi-judicial body that regulates air transportation, found Flair had the dubious distinction of trailing all other major carriers on customer satisfaction in the first quarter of 2023.

In the January-March period, the CTA received 20.9 complaints for every 100 Flair flights. That compares to 10.7 for WestJet and 5.8 for Air Canada.

Other low-cost carriers — which generally charge less for fares, only to add on ancillary fees for things like seat selection, baggage and live-agent customer service — performed better than Flair despite a similar business model.

Lynx, a fledgling Calgary-based carrier, had 5.2 complaints per 100 flights.

Sunwing, a leisure airline that was recently acquired by WestJet, was the second-worst carrier for complaints after Flair — it generated 17.4 complaints for every 100 flights, said the CTA. Swoop, WestJet's discount sister brand, was the subject of 16 complaints per 100 flights.

Some complaints about Flair include last-minute flight cancellations, hours-long delays, lost bags and rebooked flights that are days or weeks away from the original date of departure.

Flair defended its record in an emailed statement.

Last month, a Flair spokesperson said the airline flew more than 436,000 passengers, with 82.1 per cent of its flights arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.

"We want every passenger to have a great experience with the airline, and the majority of our passengers do," a spokesperson for the airline said.

"In the last several months, we have taken concrete steps to improve our responsiveness to customers in our communication channels, and the result is more responsive communications, and faster and successful resolution of customer inquiries." Read more.

Do you have a gripe against an airline? Tell us all about it. Email marketplace@cbc.ca.

Here's why we may never be rid of spam calls

Spam calls — or "scam calls" as they're also known — have become an infuriating part of life. By now, most people are well acquainted with fraudsters trying to dupe you out of your cash by impersonating government officials or Amazon employees.

"I'm still getting a lot of spam calls," said Pradeep Selvaraj, an IT professional in Whitby, Ont., who has posted about the issue on his YouTube channel.

Salvaraj estimates he receives two to three calls a week from scammers — often while at work. They claim they're from the "CRA, RCMP, duct cleaning, Amazon, UPS shipping and the list goes on," he said. "It's very annoying."

Many people had high hopes such calls would stop when, in late 2021, the CRTC, Canada's telecom regulator, introduced new technology called STIR/SHAKEN. It lets telecoms detect calls that use spoofed or altered phone numbers to disguise their true identity.

But STIR/SHAKEN was never meant to be more than a partial solution and, some 18 months later, has yet to be entirely implemented. Those are some of the reasons scam calls aren't going away anytime soon.

Another hurdle is that fraudsters are catching on. Experts say they can bypass the STIR/SHAKEN technology by purchasing real Canadian numbers, despite being located around the world.

Telus, Bell and Rogers all say they have programs in place to try and fight scam calls, but if your phone is ringing as much as ours are, you already know it's not foolproof. Read more.

Marketplace has covered scam calls for more than five years, including travelling to India to identify scam centres calling Canadians, and intercepting scam calls and trying to stop people from losing money. You can watch those stories and more on CBC Gem.

The Bank of Canada has hiked the interest rate again — and there may be more to come

The Bank of Canada decided to raise its benchmark interest rate to 4.75 per cent on Wednesday.

It's the first time the central bank has raised its trendsetting interest rate since January, when the bank signalled it would conditionally pause its aggressive campaign of rate hikes to wait and see if it had done enough to bring down inflation.

Since then, the data has shown the Canadian economy to be unexpectedly resilient, as it has grown more than expected. After declining for nine months in a row, the inflation rate unexpectedly ticked higher last month.

The bank's latest move to increase its rate from 4.5 per cent to 4.75 per cent takes it to its highest level since 2001.

The big banks have also moved to match the rate hike, moving the prime rate to 6.95 per cent.

Brian Yu, an economist with Central 1 Credit Union, told CBC News this week that he was surprised the bank did what it did.

"I really don't think that it's necessary for further hikes at this point," he said, noting that it typically takes at least 18 months for the full impact of rate hikes to be felt, which raises questions as to why the bank thought another was necessary after only standing pat for a short time.

"I think there could have been a little more patience in terms of whether or not to hike, but clearly given some of the more recent data that's popped up, the bank felt that that was sufficient enough for them to move again," he said.

"There is obviously a risk that they could hike again if these numbers aren't starting to ease off, but my view is that they probably shouldn't." Read more.

What else is going on?

As climate changes, insurance is becoming more complex — and pricey

With rates and damages rising, experts say government may be called upon to play greater role.

Apple is betting VR is the future, but experts say we may not be there yet

Apple announced a $4,700 ($3,499 US) virtual reality set, which will be available in 2024.

Delta Air Lines is facing a class-action lawsuit over carbon neutral claims

The lawsuit alleges the company claiming to be the "first carbon-neutral airline" is bogus.

Are you on the lookout for the latest in business news? You'll want to subscribe to this newsletter, too.

Mind Your Business is your weekly look at what's happening in the worlds of economics, business and finance. Subscribe now.

Catch up on past episodes of Marketplace on CBC Gem.