The Canadian Transport Authority (CTA), the national regulator of the aviation industry, ordered on Thursday Air Canada and Porter Airlines to amend the amount they pay air travelers who fail to reach their destinations according to plan.

Passengers who are bumped off their flights would be required to compensate them between $200 and $800 or thrice the amount in travel vouchers. That means for every $1 in cash, airlines must issue $3 worth of travel vouchers.

Because Air Canada could use smaller planes for operational and safety reasons, the CTA said it must compensate passengers if it cannot prove that it took reasonable measure to avoid changing jets, which causes passenger to be bumped off.

The order for Porter to refund fares for cancelled domestic trips and to compensate for reasonable expenses when flights are delayed was given by the CTA on Thursday as a separate decision.

CTA gave Air Canada until Sept 18 to follow its directive, while it granted Porter until Sept 30 to change its tariff provision.

The regulatory agency made the changes in response to the complaints of Gabor Lukacs, a consumer rights activist.

The new rules aim to make Canadian aviation firms on the same page as other western air carriers when it comes to compensating passengers.

Americans receive up to $680 compensation for less than 2 hours of delay and up to $1,360 for over two hours. For European Union residents, the payout could be from $175 to $835.

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