A Kelowna couple have won their small claims case against Air Canada after a flight delay stranded them and three family members in Vancouver for two days en route to Egypt.
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A Kelowna, B.C., couple have won their small claims case against Air Canada after a flight delay stranded them and three family members in Vancouver for two days en route to Egypt.
On Tuesday, British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) awarded the couple $2,000 in compensation, plus $155.48 in interest and fees, after finding Air Canada did not sufficiently prove the primary reason for the delay was out of its control.
“While I have found there was a GDP outside Air Canada’s control that had some impact on [outbound flight] AC8279, I find the weight of the evidence does not show that was the primary cause,” wrote CRT vice chair Shelley Lopez in the Aug. 8 decision.
“It’s unfortunate that consumers have had to go to the tribunals to basically get decisions reviewed,” said John Gradek, a faculty lecturer at McGill University’s school of continuing studies’ aviation management program.
The agency is now proposing stronger protections for passengers, but Gradek says Ottawa needs to implement tougher rules and fines to force companies to pay customers what they are owed as delays, fuelled in part by chronic shortages of key staff, still plague airlines.
Gábor Lukács, president of non-profit advocacy group Air Passenger Rights Canada, says he hopes more people take their cases to small claims court to hold airlines accountable.
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