Alaa Tannous was pleased when the Canadian transport agency (CTA) ordered Air Canada to pay him $ 2,079 for the delayed luggage, after a flight that he and his wife, Nancy, took from Toronto to Vancouver in 2022.
“I felt that it is fair,” said Tannous, who had waited more than two years for the decision of the CTA.
But instead of receiving an Air Canada payment, the airline served him with judicial documents last December, on Christmas eve. Air Canada is taking Tannous before the Federal Court in an attempt to cancel the decision of the CTA.
The CTA, the Canada transport regulator, is not appointed in the judicial case, so Tannous is alone.
“It was shocking,” he said about being served in his home in Toronto. “It is disappointing to see the airline, after all the money I spent with them over the years … they are appealing a claim of $ 2,000.”
This is the Fourth ruling airlines of CTA have challenged in the Court in 2024, and the second presented by Air Canada. He Another caseThat is still before the courts, involves passengers Andrew and Anna Dyczkowski in BC, were granted $ 2,000 for a flight delay, which Air Canada is disputing.
“Something is really bad in the system,” said Andrew Dyczkowski to CBC News in June 2024.
Air Canada goes to the Court to revoke a decision to compensate for a BC couple for a delayed flight. Some experts say that this could become a trend and other transporters could flood the courts with more cases.
The way in which the rules are currently operating, after the CTA officers issue decisions, if passengers or airlines do not agree with the result, they can dispute the decision in the Federal Court. The airlines that challenge CTA decisions are rare, but some passengers and defenders of affected consumers argue that the CTA complaints system must change, so passengers never have to worry about being dragged into judicial battles.
“It has a chilling effect and is a terrifying proposal” for a passenger, said Geoff White, executive director of the Center for Public Interest Defense (PIAC), a National Consumer Defense Group.
White says that many people cannot afford to hire a lawyer to face an airline.
“Litigation lawyers are not cheap,” he said. “Put customers at a real disadvantage.”
As for the case of Tannous, White says that tens of thousands of dollars to Air Canada will probably spend on the legal challenge “could better spend on improving customer service.”
What is a ‘reasonable’ amount?
Tannous says that he has no plans to hire a lawyer to try to recover what the CTA determined that it was owed: $ 2,079 to cover articles of dressing table, makeup and clothing that he and his wife bought after landing in Vancouver without the only suitcase they had packed for a weekend getaway.
“It makes no sense to lose more money,” he said.
Tannous says that an Air Canada employee told the couple at that time that the airline had no clues about the whereabouts of their suitcase, and that they could spend “a reasonable amount” on the needs.
“They could not even track the luggage, if it is in Toronto or, like, on the road,” Tannous said. “It was under impression, the luggage is gone.”
When Tannous first presented the couple’s receipts for compensation, Air Canada offered them $ 250 to resolve the case, according to the emails seen by CBC News.
Tannous says he rejected the offer and instead filed a complaint with the CTA. In judicial documents, Air Canada argues that a CTA officer “was not adequately, reasonably or at all, applied and/or interpreted” relevant regulations when he reached a decision.
Air Canada rules at that time declared that it would pay a maximum of approximately $ 2,400 for delayed or lost luggage. However, the airline argues in judicial documents that Tannous and his wife did not provide evidence to justify the amount they spent to replace the items in a missing, not lost suitcase.
Air Canada also states that the luggage came the morning after the couple had landed, and yet they presented a receipt for a couple of sneakers for women later that same day. But Tannous says he remembers that he and his wife left the hotel early that morning, before the suitcase arrived without prior notice.
Tannous says he feels that the couple’s purchases to replace the missing items were reasonable and that the CTA agreed.
“I believed in the system, which is my mistake,” he said. “It has to be changed.”
Cta weighs
Air Canada said he cannot comment on a case before the courts. In judicial documents, the airline said it is not looking for legal costs of Tannous, if it won its legal challenge.
The CTA says that the agency is not appointed in the case, since it was not involved in the original compensation claim Tannous made to Air Canada.
According to judicial records, the CTA had requested to participate in the other agency governing that Air Canada is disputing in the Court, involving the Dyczkowskis. However, Air Canada fought against the request of the CTA and, at the end of November 2024, the judge put on the side of the airline.
Despite the reverse, the CTA defends the current system.
“Anyone who is subject to a decision made by a government organization, when it affects their rights or interests, can challenge that decision through the review of the courts,” said CTA spokesman Jadrino Huot in an email.
“This is a key part of how the Canadian justice system works.”
But Piac’s target argues that there are better ways to solve such disputes.
He offers as an example, the Committee for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS), the Canadian National Agency to resolve telecommunications complaints. If a client or a telecomund does not agree with a finding ccts, Avenues to dispute it Do not involve the courts.
“Tighten the process of the Canadian transport agency so that there is an incorporated appeal route,” White said. “It keeps it out of an expensive judicial process.” Such change could take time, since it would probably imply legislative changes.
White also said that Canada’s air passenger protection regulations should be clearer and more concise to avoid disputes on how the rules apply. The CTA recently Given amendments given To simplify and strengthen regulations, but it has not yet announced when they will enter into force.
As for Tannous, he says he is talking about his case with the hope of winning in the Public Opinion Court.
“This is not acceptable,” he said.
