After a vacation they had planned for three years turned into a ‘horrific experience,’ according to a lawsuit released Wednesday, the couple was awarded $10,000 in compensation by Air Canada. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press – photo credit)
A lower court ordered Air Canada to pay $10,000, after an overbooked flight sent the couple to multiple Canadian airports under the promise of a replacement flight that never materialized, disrupting a vacation that had been planned for years.
A negative ruling from the Yukon Small Claims Court concluded that the couple had been “disgracefully treated” by the airline. Justice Katherine L. McLeod wrote that Air Canada had violated the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) several times and put the couple through “a terrible experience.”
The APPR outlines the obligations that airlines have to their passengers in the event of issues such as flight cancellations, delays and baggage damage.
The couple, who live in the Yukon, had been saving for three years to take their first vacation without their children. They planned to take time off work and take care of their three children for nine days to go to a resort in Cuba, a trip that was planned for February 2023.
According to the official statement, when they arrived in Toronto for their Air Canada flight to Cuba, they found it was overbooked.
Passengers were told that if they volunteered to give up their seats, they would be fined and rebooked on an American Airlines flight that would take off that day, which could eventually take them to Cuba.
Air Canada has acknowledged that this situation falls under “denied boarding,” the decision said.
An Air Canada plane taxis down the runway at Ottawa International Airport in Ottawa on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024.
Air Canada planes coming down the runway at Ottawa International Airport on Oct. 3. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
The plaintiffs decided to take the offer, but found hours later that the plane was not available to them, without being told why.
This was the beginning of a three-day ordeal for the couple, which was planned in the decision. They were sent back to Montreal thinking there would be a replacement flight there, then sent back to Toronto and then back to Edmonton, without the route to Cuba provided by Air Canada.
Finally, the couple bought a ticket to Cancun, Mexico, to try to save the vacation in another way, which required them to take a lot of time off work, which meant they lost money.
The judge found that the board’s initial refusal led to “great concern” and that Air Canada “completely failed” in the “work of communication.”
The APPR specifies that if a carrier offers a benefit to a passenger willing to give up their seats on an overbooked flight, such as booking them on another flight, they must provide written confirmation to that passenger before the flight takes off.
The couple did not accept this.
At one point, the couple were told that Air Canada had booked them tickets for an Air Transat flight, but when they got to the airline’s information desk in Montreal, it didn’t recognize the tickets.
“It appears that Air Canada did not have any evidence of communication with Air Transat or American Airlines,” the decision says.
Air Canada argued that the court did not have jurisdiction to award a free award, that some of the delay was caused by circumstances beyond its control, and that it met the requirements of the APPR by awarding the plaintiffs $2,400 each in liquidated damages. of boarding. The airline said it was the only one responsible for the money in the situation, according to the law.
Passengers enter the arrivals area as an Air Canada flight with a group of Canadians from Morocco arrives in Montreal on Saturday March 21, 2020.
The pair were turned back at the airport in Montreal at one point while trying to find passage to Cuba, the official statement said. (Andrej Ivanov/The Canadian Press)
After the plaintiffs filed their legal case, Air Canada returned their foreign money, paying them about $180,000 for additional hotel and food expenses they incurred, the ruling said. However, the judge found that this did not cover all their expenses, such as the additional cost of booking a new flight to a new destination and their loss of income.
One of the plaintiffs, Tosh Southwick, celebrated the victory on Wednesday in a post in the Air Passenger Rights Facebook group, saying the case “helped provide new evidence that others can use in their lawsuits.”
It can be a struggle in Canada to receive compensation for air travel problems. Since the beginning of November, the backlog of passenger complaints has exceeded 80,000, according to the Canadian Transportation Agency.
Canada’s transportation regulator has proposed revised rulesin 2023, including requiring airlines to compensate passengers for any flight disruptions, unless they can demonstrate “extraordinary circumstances” caused them. However, the pilot’s bill of rights has yet to be updated – and a spokesperson told CBC News last month that there is “no timeline” for a final draft of the proposed legislation.
The current rules, which came into force in 2019, require airlines to compensate pilots for delays or cancellations that are within their control, such as groundings, leaving the possibility for airlines to stay afloat by citing circumstances that were beyond their control.
One focus of the judge’s ruling in this recent case was the failure to use an automated booking system, and leaving customers waiting on the phone or in line for hours trying to get in touch with a human operator.
“While I appreciate the wonders of computerized aviation, this case is an example of why computers cannot make decisions,” Justice McLeod wrote.
“If someone had looked at a different way to travel for the accused, provided the right documents, checked the feasibility of the travel plans selected by federal computers, most of this could have been avoided.”
