Two class action lawsuits have been proposed in Quebec for Air Canada passengers affected by the flight attendant strike. According to lawyer Joey Zukran, the lead plaintiff in one of the proposed lawsuits was rebooked on a plane 86 hours after her flight was cancelled. “She had booked a flight back in January to travel from Montreal to Grenada, and she was supposed to leave on Sunday,” he said. “Air Canada obviously sent her an e-mail on Saturday saying, ‘your flight is cancelled, and you’re not going anywhere.’” She was rebooked on a flight leaving on Wednesday. Zukran explains this violates air passenger protection rules, which dictate that Air Canada has up to two days to rebook passengers on its planes, or must put them on the next available flight with a different carrier. “In this case, she has proof, using third-party sites...that she was actually able to book an earlier flight than Wednesday,” he said. “Air Canada had the obligation to put her on the next available flight with any airline. In this case, there were several available, one of which was with Air Canada, and they chose not to.” The class action argues that Air Canada also misled its customers by convincing them to accept refunds. The lawsuit, by LPC Avocats and Renno Vathilakis Inc., was issued on Monday and has not been approved by a judge. If authorized, it would apply to passengers worldwide from Aug. 14 onwards whose flights were affected. A second class action by law firm Lambert Avocats was also issued against Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) at the Montreal courthouse on Monday. It claims that the union illegally continued its strike, greatly affecting passengers.
