Federal Court of Appeal upholds decision to boost accessibility at Air Canada
The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a decision by the country's transport regulator that aims to boost accessibility for air travellers living with a disability. A judicial tribunal dismissed an appeal by Air Canada, which took issue with one of the accommodations it was ordered to provide for passengers whose wheelchairs are too large to fit through the cargo doors of some aircraft, saying it was too onerous for the airline. The ruling Friday marks the culmination of a case that has dragged on since 2016, when respondent Tim Rose was told his power wheelchair would not fit on an aircraft, preventing him from travelling to Ohio as planned. After a series of decisions, the Canadian Transportation Agency ruled in 2023 that Air Canada must find passengers with disabilities a similar flight on a comparable route or, if that's not possible, swap in a plane that is capable of carrying the mobility device. Air Canada appealed the swap-in requirement last year. But Justice Wyman Webb rejected the airline's arguments: "Air Canada did not establish that it would suffer undue hardship if it had to substitute an aircraft." In January 2024, Air Canada said it accepted most of the agency's orders to remove barriers, including the obligation to find a plane that takes off within a day of the desired travel date, as long as the customer makes the request three weeks in advance. But it took issue with a key provision. It argued the requirement to sub in planes with larger cargo doors — some are just over two-and-a-half feet high, while many power wheelchairs can be collapsed only to a height of three feet — marks an “undue hardship” for the carrier, putting it at a competitive disadvantage. "The agency fails to consider factors such as impact of an ad hoc substitution of an aircraft on overall safety and quality of service to all other passengers within Air Canada’s network," the carrier added in court filings. On Friday, Webb ruled that Air Canada failed to lay out how the transportation agency erred in gauging what constitutes "undue hardship" on the airline.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2025-03-26/star/federal-court-of-appeal-upholds-decision-to-boost-accessibility-at-air-canada
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Federal Court of Appeal upholds decision to boost accessibility at Air Canada
The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a decision by the country's transport regulator that aims to boost accessibility for air travellers living with a disability. A judicial tribunal dismissed an appeal by Air Canada, which took issue with one of the accommodations it was ordered to provide for passengers whose wheelchairs are too large to fit through the cargo doors of some aircraft, saying it was too onerous for the airline. The ruling Friday marks the culmination of a case that has dragged on since 2016, when respondent Tim Rose was told his power wheelchair would not fit on an aircraft, preventing him from travelling to Ohio as planned. After a series of decisions, the Canadian Transportation Agency ruled in 2023 that Air Canada must find passengers with disabilities a similar flight on a comparable route or, if that's not possible, swap in a plane that is capable of carrying the mobility device. Air Canada appealed the swap-in requirement last year. But Justice Wyman Webb rejected the airline's arguments: "Air Canada did not establish that it would suffer undue hardship if it had to substitute an aircraft." In January 2024, Air Canada said it accepted most of the agency's orders to remove barriers, including the obligation to find a plane that takes off within a day of the desired travel date, as long as the customer makes the request three weeks in advance. But it took issue with a key provision. It argued the requirement to sub in planes with larger cargo doors — some are just over two-and-a-half feet high, while many power wheelchairs can be collapsed only to a height of three feet — marks an “undue hardship” for the carrier, putting it at a competitive disadvantage. "The agency fails to consider factors such as impact of an ad hoc substitution of an aircraft on overall safety and quality of service to all other passengers within Air Canada’s network," the carrier added in court filings. On Friday, Webb ruled that Air Canada failed to lay out how the transportation agency erred in gauging what constitutes "undue hardship" on the airline.<br/>
