Air Canada passengers earn cash for excruciating flight delays
Despite the “unforeseen” circumstance, Air Canada said it had to cancel a flight and now owes two passengers hundreds of dollars.
Michael Zimmerman and James Sullivan booked a flight with Air Canada from Fredericton to Vancouver last July. However, when they arrived at Fredericton airport, the airline cancelled the leg from Montreal to Vancouver and rerouted the couple through Kelowna.
Zimmerman and Sullivan said they arrived in Vancouver just over four hours later than they planned to. Due to the major travel delays, they filed a dispute with the Civil Resolution Tribunal because they believed they were entitled to compensation under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).
In response, Air Canada said the flight was cancelled “due to unforeseen engine maintenance performed for safety purposes,” according to the CRT document.
Air Canada said Zimmerman and Sullivan were rebooked on the next available flight, so under the APPR, neither is entitled to compensation.
The CRT document outlines that if a large carrier delays or cancels a flight for three to six hours, it is required to compensate passengers $400 under an APPR section. However, another section specifies that compensation is only required if the delay or cancellation is within the carrier’s control and is not required for safety purposes.
“Air Canada says the cancellation was required for safety purposes. It says the scheduled airplane, an Airbus A330 (FIN 938), had an engine delamination fault, so it could not fly safely. Air Canada also says no alternate plane was available,” the CRT decision reads.
Ultimately, the tribunal member, Kate Campbell, found that Zimmerman and Sullivan are entitled to be paid for the cancelled flight. While their disputes were filed separately, the facts and arguments “are essentially identical.”
While the member admitted that the maintenance for the aircraft was required for safety, “the primary reason for the disputed flight disruption was preventable if the airline had taken reasonably foreseeable preventative measures,” they said.
“I find Air Canada has not proved that it met its duty to mitigate the effects of the engine delamination. This means Air Canada has not proved that the cancellation was required for safety purposes,” Campbell said.
Air Canada was ordered to pay Zimmerman and Sullivan $546.38 each.