After four years, a couple won $2,000 against Air Canada before the Canadian Transportation Agency. But the carrier, who refuses to pay, is taking advantage of a loophole in the new law to try to have the judgment overturned in court.
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“The forces are unequal. Who can afford a lawyer to recover $2,000,” asks Sylvie De Bellefeuille, from Option Consommateur.
This is what Andrew Dyczkowski and Anna Kaczmarek will have to do, who left on flight AC0106 from Vancouver to Toronto on January 14, 2020.
The two Kelowna residents missed their connection to Costa Rica. A defective door grounded the plane, they plead.
The main cause of the delay is bad weather, according to Air Canada, which is thus exempt from paying compensation to the couple.
The CTA’s complaints resolution officer was not convinced: in his decision of November 28, 2023, he considered that “the categorization of this flight disruption is the responsibility of the airline”.
He ordered Air Canada to pay $1,000 each to Mr. Dyczkowski and Ms.me Kaczmarek. The two travelers instead received a legal document.
The air giant cites them in a notice of application filed in federal court on December 28. The OTC’s decision “is unreasonable and must be annulled,” we argue.
The carrier’s lawyers rely in particular on new paragraph 85.02 of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which stipulates that “the complaints resolution officer only has the responsibilities of a complaints resolution officer and not those of the OTC”.
No Sens
The CTA had to hire new officers to handle the more than 60,000 pending complaints against air carriers.
The addition to the regulation, however, exposes them to an attack in court, which was not the case before.
“Ottawa is opening the floodgates to attacks from corporations armed with numerous lawyers,” says Gabor Lukacs, of Air Passenger Rights.
The consumer rights defender denounces this “error”, especially since Ottawa “is already dragging its feet in its mission to tighten the screws on carriers”.
“They are sabotaging their own reform,” he wonders.
Jacob Charbonneau, from the firm Vol en retard, wants to be more moderate. It would be “unprofitable” for Air Canada to sue everyone for $2,000.
“They are surely trying to create a precedent, a case law,” adds this other consumer defender, who is sad to see a giant attack a dwarf.
The boss of Late Flight is convinced that as long as there are 60,000 complaints and 18 months of time to process them, “the system will remain broken”. There were “barely” 13,000 in 2022.
At Option Consommateur, we are realistic: Air Canada has the good game. “If it costs more in lawyers than the compensation, it is not logical,” asserts Sylvie De Bellefeuille.
Complaints in the carpet
Number of complaints accumulated at the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) against air carriers
- March 2022: 13,400
- January 2023: 36,000
- July 2023: 52,000
- November 2023: 61,411