For the final two and a half years, Rejean Landry has been caught in a authorized battle with Air Canada, searching for compensation after his household arrived at their ultimate vacation spot greater than 24 hours late.
In November, a choose in Ontario’s small claims court docket dominated within the Ottawa man’s favour, ordering Air Canada to pay virtually $15,000 {dollars}.
“And we have been comfortable, happy, relieved for a couple of weeks,” Landry stated. “Till yesterday, after I obtained a discover of attraction from Air Canada.”
Specialists say that giant firms are more and more keen to attraction selections and combat passengers in court docket to keep away from compensating them, regardless of the hefty authorized charges they incur.
Air Canada declined to remark to CBC as a result of Landry’s case continues to be in court docket.
Panicked and determined
When Landry determined to take his kids, Sebastien and Emali, on a trip to Lisbon in July 2022, he knew there could possibly be some issues.
Pandemic restrictions had eased and Canadians have been packing airports throughout the nation.
However once they arrived on the airport in Montreal, they watched as their flight was delayed “time and again and over,” Landry stated.
Panicked and determined, Landry stated he purchased three new tickets for the following day. After they arrived in Toronto for a layover and spoke to the lady at Air Canada’s desk, she advised him he could be refunded.
They finally landed in Portugal, greater than 24 hours later than they deliberate.
Landry stated the first indication one thing was nonetheless fallacious got here when his kids tried to fly house.
They have been advised their seats have been now not obtainable on the return flight as a result of they hadn’t taken the unique flight they’d bought.
Air Canada put them on a United Airways flight, and Sebastien and Emali arrived in Toronto greater than six hours late.
When he was house in Canada, Landry emailed backwards and forwards with Air Canada, asking them to compensate him for his tickets and for not permitting his kids to board their meant airplane going house.
He stated this went on for months earlier than he determined, after Christmas in 2022, that he would file in Ontario’s small claims court docket.
The practically $15,000 the court docket ordered Air Canada to pay included the costs of Landry’s new tickets, nights spent in a resort, meals on the airport, a payment for not permitting Sebastien and Emali to board and different bills.
‘Air Canada needs to be ashamed of itself’
Landry stated he felt assured going into small claims court docket due to a Supreme Courtroom ruling in October which dismissed an attraction from airways arguing that passenger protections violate international law.
“I went to trial pondering, that is it, I’ll win this. Clearly the Supreme Courtroom is on my facet,” he stated.
However now, he is unsure how he’ll deal with the attraction — and the very fact it appears like Air Canada is keen to spend tens of hundreds of {dollars} on it.
Jacob Charbonneau is CEO of Vol en Retard, an organization which helps vacationers defend their rights in court docket. He stated firms are more and more keen to spend cash on trials, relatively than pay out to passengers.
“It is unlucky as a result of these are sometimes passengers who’re left to their very own units, who must combat a bit like David towards Goliath,” Charbonneau advised Radio-Canada in French.
“We’re preventing towards giant firms which have armies of legal professionals, who strive by all means to keep away from having to pay compensation, and who are sometimes ready to pay extra in authorized charges than it will have price to pay the compensation.”
Gábor Lukács, an air passenger rights advocate, identified the identical phenomenon to CBC.
For Lukács, who has spoken about air passenger rights earlier than the Supreme Courtroom, there is a easy motive that airways do not need to simply pay up.
“Air Canada desires to ascertain a precedent to point out that in [certain] circumstances no such compensation could possibly be awarded,” he stated.
“They’re hoping they’re going to have solely poor, self-represented individuals on the opposite facet who can not make good, sturdy authorized arguments and so they can simply railroad them. This shameful. It’s a waste of judicial assets. Air Canada needs to be ashamed of itself.”
‘Heroes in my eyes’
Lukács stated it is necessary for passengers like Landry to face up for themselves in court docket, regardless of the hardship, as a result of it “contributes to the larger societal good” by altering how airways behave.
“These passengers are actually heroes in my eyes,” he stated.
Now again house in Barrhaven, Landry is making ready to maintain urgent his authorized case.
“One way or the other I want to seek out some option to combat that attraction,” he stated. “Undecided how I am gonna do it simply but.”
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