Canada’s transport minister has announced rewritten rules on how airlines must treat passengers.

Omar Alghabra told reporters the Trudeau Liberals are making it harder for airline carriers to dodge responsibility when flights are cancelled or delayed and raising the fines for those that violate the regulations.

The new rules, once passed, would go into effect September 30th and include raising the penalty for violating the regulations from $25,000 to $250,000.

In addition, there will be measures intended to make it easier for passengers to seek compensation while reducing the backlog of complaints the Canadian Transportation Agency handles.

Air travel in Canada surged in the summer of last year at a time when the aviation industry was poorly staffed and ill prepared because of the pandemic. This led to chaos at major airports, with thousands of cancelled or delayed flights, lost baggage and overcrowded terminals.