The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld rules that strengthen compensation for air passengers who are victims of delays, cancellations and damaged baggage on international flights.
In a victory for Canadian air travelers, the country’s highest court unanimously rejected an appeal from a group of airlines challenging Canada’s passenger bill of rights on Friday.
Air Canada, Porter Airlines and 16 other callers had argued that the Air Passenger Protection Regulations launched in 2019 violated global standards and should be invalidated for travel to and from the country.
The legal challenge, which began that year, argued that by imposing heavier compensation requirements for flight cancellations or lost luggage while traveling abroad, the regulation exceeded the authority of the Canadian Transportation Agency and violated international rules known as the Montreal Convention.
In December, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the airlines’ complaint, except for a regulation that applies to temporary loss of baggage.
The Canadian Transportation Agency and the attorney general argued there was no conflict between passenger protection and the Montreal Convention, a multilateral treaty.
On Friday, the Supreme Court effectively ruled in favor of that decision, declaring in a judgment written by Justice Malcolm Rowe that the regulations “do not conflict with the Montreal Convention.”
Under federal rules, passengers must be compensated up to $2,400 if they are denied boarding due to overbooking a flight — known as “flight bumping.” Delays and other payments for canceled flights warrant compensation of up to $1,000.
Travelers can receive up to approximately $2,300 for lost or damaged luggage, although the exact amount fluctuates based on exchange rates.
Since the rules came into force five years ago, the government has taken further steps to tighten them, a move prompted by scenes of chaos at airports, endless queues at security checks and halls of luggage that overflows in 2022.
In 2023, he changed the law to close loopholes that allowed airlines to avoid paying compensation to customers and worked to establish a more effective complaints resolution system.
The new provisions also aim to increase penalties by imposing a maximum fine of $250,000 for violations by airlines, ten times more than the previous regulations, in a bid to encourage compliance.
Another amendment, which has not yet entered into force, would place the regulatory cost of complaints on carriers. This measure, which would cost airlines $790 per complaint under a recent proposal by the regulator, aims to encourage them to improve their service and thus reduce the number of complaints against them.
Meanwhile, the backlog of complaints to the country’s transport regulator continues to build, amounting to around 78,000 as of last month.