Decision No. 129-C-A-2022

[1] The applicants were scheduled to travel from Detroit, Michigan, United States of America, to Vancouver, British Columbia via Toronto, Ontario, on January 5, 2020. However, they missed their flight from Detroit to Toronto as they did not know the flight’s departure gate. The applicants allege that no gate number was printed on Ms. Bohn’s boarding pass and that the handwritten number on Mr. Oliver’s boarding pass was illegible (first delay).

[2] Air Canada rebooked the applicants to travel to Vancouver on the same route later that day, at no additional cost, and provided them with meal vouchers. Unfortunately, their rebooked flight from Detroit to Toronto was late arriving in Toronto because of weather, which resulted in the applicants missing their connecting flight to Vancouver (second delay). Air Canada rebooked the applicants to travel from Toronto to Vancouver the next day, January 6, 2020. Air Canada provided the applicants with meal vouchers and hotel accommodation while in Toronto. The applicants arrived in Vancouver at 9:08 am on January 6, 2020, approximately 15 hours later than originally scheduled.

[3] The applicants seek compensation for inconvenience under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).

[4] In this decision, the role of the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) is to decide whether the respondent properly applied the rules applicable to the tickets that the applicants purchased, as set out in the respondent’s Tariff, which was in effect on the date travel began. If the Agency finds that the respondent failed to properly apply its Tariff, it can order the respondent to compensate any person adversely affected for any expenses that they incurred as a result of the respondent’s failure or to take any other appropriate corrective measures.

[5] The applicants did not file any claims for out-of-pocket expenses relating to their travel delays.

[6] Under the Tariff and the APPR, compensation is owed only if a flight is delayed within the carrier’s control.

[7] The applicants provided screenshots of the departure board, which indicates that there was no departure gate listed for the applicants’ flight. They provide the boarding pass where the boarding gate was handwritten. They do not provide the other boarding pass.

[8] The respondent claims that it made terminal-wide announcements regarding the departure gate for the applicants’ flight. The respondent states that the applicants arrived at the departure gate after it had closed. The respondent indicates that all but two of the passengers on this flight arrived at the departure gate in time to board the aircraft.

[9] The first delay was not the result of a flight delay, but rather the result of the applicants not knowing the departure gate of their flight. Therefore, the Agency finds that the APPR does not apply to this matter.

[10] With respect to the second delay, the applicants acknowledge that their rebooked flight from Detroit to Toronto was delayed because of weather. However, they argue that they are entitled to compensation because the meal and hotel accommodation vouchers provided by Air Canada indicate that the cancellation was a “controllable” event.

[11] As set out under the Tariff and APPR, meteorological conditions are situations outside the carrier’s control and no compensation is owed when weather is responsible for delay or cancellation. While the applicants may believe that they are entitled to compensation because their vouchers indicate a “controllable” event, the Tariff provides that an agent of the respondent does not have the authority to alter, modify, or waive any provisions of the Tariff. Therefore, the representations made by the agent who issued the vouchers do not bind the carrier. Accordingly, as set out in the Tariff and APPR, the applicants are not entitled to the compensation they seek because the delay was the result of poor weather.

[12] In light of the above, the Agency dismisses the application.