Passenger advocate suing Air Transat over stranded planes

A passenger rights advocate is suing Air Transat and the Canadian Transportation Agency over their handling of an incident that stranded hundreds of passengers on the Ottawa airport tarmac for hours.

Passengers on two Air Transat flights were stuck on planes after being diverted due to stormy weather on July 31.

The delays sparked months of investigations by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) into how the airline dealt with the issues.

In November, the agency ruled Air Transat broke its agreement with passengers, finding that though the initial diversion was out of Air Transat's control, the delays were not. The CTA decided the airline should have been able to fulfil its obligation to passengers for food, drink and an opportunity to disembark.

The agency's report said Air Transat's staff, including pilots, did not seem to be properly informed or trained about their legal obligation to passengers, also known as the airline's tariff.

The message it sends to Canadian airlines is that there are no consequences for breaking the rules.- Gábor Lukács, passenger rights advocate

The CTA ordered Air Transat to compensate passengers for any out-of-pocket expenses related to the delay and pay an administrative fine of $295,000. The fine may be waived if the sum is divided among the passengers.

"The message it sends to Canadian airlines is that there are no consequences for breaking the rules," Gábor Lukács, the man who filed the lawsuit, said. 

"Exposing passengers to such extreme suffering should have consequences."

The lawsuit is seeking to have Air Transat's penalty overturned and sent back to the CTA for reassessment. Lukács is also asking the Federal Court of Appeal to rule that the CTA does not have the authority to waive the penalties associated with Air Transat's violations.

CTA fine a 'slap on the wrist'

The maximum fine available per affected passenger was $10,000, he explained. With 590 passengers affected, the amount of the fine should have been just under $6 million. Instead, the $295,000 is around five per cent of the maximum fine.

"That is not what Parliament intended and Canadians deserve better," Lukács said. 

Air Transat should have been fined more, he added, and the CTA is failing to hold Air Transat responsible by waiving the fine if the amount goes to passengers. 

"The CTA applied a slap-on-the-wrist fine, far below the level established in its own enforcement manual," Lukács said.

No precedent for punishment

Despite the waves made by the Air Transat delays, the CTA found there was no precedent for how to deal with these cases. 

It was the first time passengers had been kept on aircraft for that long, the advocate said. Because the issue is new, he said, it's key to be ethical when doling out punishment.

"If airlines don't face consequences for breaking the law, they will continue doing so," Lukács said.

"The issue is that tomorrow, next month, next year it could be you, me, my neighbour, my family, your family, it could be anybody."

The CTA declined CBC News' request for an interview, stating they were currently reviewing the notice and it would be "inappropriate" to comment.

Air Transat also turned down requests for an interview.

"As a matter of principle, we do not comment on lawsuits," their spokesperson said.

Neither the agency nor the airline have formally responded to the lawsuit.