Canadian airlines fail Supreme Court challenge, forced to compensate flyers

Airlines operating in Canada must offer passengers standardized compensation for canceled international flights within the companies’ control, the country’s highest court ruled Friday.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled against two industry groups representing airlines that were challenging 2019 legislation requiring carriers to provide passengers with compensation under law.

Neither the Montreal-based International Air Transport Association or the Transportation Association of America based in Washington, D.C., had issued public statements on the ruling as of 11:30 a.m. EDT Friday.

The Canadian Transportation Agency finalized the country’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations in July 2019.

The legislation lays out a set of standardized requirements for airlines when dealing with compensation for passengers related to flight delays and cancellations, lost or damaged luggage, being denied boarding and extended lack of communication from an airline. It also specifically mentioned issues incurred while shipping large musical instruments and addressed when airlines are unable to seat children under 14 with a parent or guardian, as well as when passengers have to deal with extensive delays inside an aircraft parked on the tarmac.

Rules require financial compensation to varying degrees be paid to passengers in most of the situations.

Airlines challenged the legislation, arguing it violated the 2001 Montreal Convention, which established liability guidelines for airlines adopted internationally.

The legal challenges ultimately failed, culminating in Friday’s unanimous nine-judge ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Canadian Transportation Agency called it “important news” for passenger rights following the ruling, upholding the legislation.

The agency said it is continuing to deal with a backlog of more than 79,00 cases, with 43,549 new complaints filed between Jan. 1, 2023, and September 15, 2024.