Canadian airlines among carriers asking appeal court to quash passenger rights rules

Canadian airlines asked a Federal Court of Appeal panel Wednesday to quash rules that bolster compensation for passengers subjected to delayed flights and damaged luggage. Air Canada and Porter Airlines Inc., along with 16 other appellants that include the IATA argue that the country's three-year-old passenger rights charter violates global standards and should be rendered invalid for international flights. Launched in 2019, the legal action states the new provisions exceed the Canadian Transportation Agency's authority. They also contravene the Montreal Convention, a multilateral treaty, by imposing heftier compensation requirements for flight cancellations or lost baggage. For example, the rules demand higher damages based on the length of a delay and regardless of “the actual damage sustained by each individual passenger,” according to the appellants. An earlier filing said nullifying the regulations “would avoid the confusion to passengers” who could be subject to travel regimes from multiple jurisdictions on flights abroad. “Justices, the solution cannot be for state parties to individually chip away at the Montreal Convention by adopting piecemeal domestic solutions that depart from the principles accepted by all state parties,” appellant lawyer Pierre Bienvenu told the panel. Under the federal rules, passengers have to be compensated up to $2,400 if they were denied boarding - so-called flight bumping - because a trip was overbooked, and receive up to $2,100 for lost or damaged luggage. Delays and other payments for cancelled flights warrant compensation of up to $1,000. Story has more.<br/>