Decision No. 13-AT-A-2020

SUMMARY

[1] The applicant filed an application with the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) against Air Transat, pursuant to subsection 172(1) of the CTA, concerning the carrier’s failure to meet his alleged disability-related needs by serving him a meal with sugar in it. The applicant requests a confirmation that the food that he is served onboard a flight does not contain any alcohol, sugar or sweetener.

[2] The Agency will address the following issues:

• Is the applicant a person with a disability?
• Did the applicant face a barrier to his mobility?

[3] For the reasons outlined below, the Agency finds that the applicant did not meet his burden of proof to demonstrate that he is a person with a disability who requires a sugar‑free and sweetener-free meal to accommodate his disability, and, therefore, dismisses the application.

BACKGROUND

[4] On August 7, 2018, the applicant travelled with Air Transat from London, United Kingdom, to Toronto, Ontario, and returned on August 28, 2018.

[5] The applicant booked his flight through a travel agent and asked that his food be free of sugar, sweetener and alcohol. The applicant’s travel agent requested a diabetic meal on his behalf.

[6] The applicant, however, states that, on both flights, he was served food containing sugar.

THE LAW

[7] The application was filed pursuant to subsection 172(1) of the CTA, which, at the time of the application, read as follows:

The Agency may, on application, inquire into a matter in relation to which a regulation could be made under subsection 170(1), regardless of whether such a regulation has been made, in order to determine whether there is an undue obstacle to the mobility of persons with disabilities.

[8] As stated in the Agency’s Interpretive Decision (Decision No. 33-AT-A-2019), regarding accessibility-related applications, the Agency determines whether there is an undue barrier to the mobility of a person with a disability using a two-part approach:

Part 1: The onus is on the applicant to demonstrate, on a balance of probabilities, that:

- they have a disability. A disability is any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or
  sensory impairment—or a functional limitation—whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in
  interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society;

and

- they faced a barrier. A barrier is anything—including anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is
  based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice—that hinders the full and equal
  participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication
  or sensory impairment or a functional limitation. There needs to be some connection between the applicant’s disability and the
  barrier.

Part 2: If it is determined that the applicant has a disability and faced a barrier, the onus shifts to the respondent to either:

- explain, taking into account any proposals from the applicant, how it proposes to remove the barrier through a general modification
  to a rule, policy, practice, technology, physical structure, or anything else constituting a barrier, or, if a general modification is not
  feasible, an individual accommodation measure;

or

- demonstrate, on a balance of probabilities, that it cannot remove the barrier without experiencing undue hardship.

IS THE APPLICANT A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY?

Positions of the parties

THE APPLICANT

[9] The applicant identifies his impairment as severe allergies, and further indicates that he cannot eat sugar, sweetener or any food containing alcohol.

[10] In the medical documentation filed by the applicant in support of his claim that he has a disability, his doctor identifies a medical issue in support of the applicant’s request for no alcohol in his food, but there is nothing to support his request for no sugar or sweetener. The doctor further indicates that the applicant has no allergies nor any functional or activity limitations.

AIR TRANSAT

[11] Air Transat states that diabetic meals were requested and noted on the applicant’s reservation file. However, Air Transat submits that the applicant’s reservation was completed directly in the reservation system by his travel agent and, at that time, there was no note or indication of any disability or allergy.

ANALYSIS AND DETERMINATIONS

[12] As indicated in Decision No. 33-AT-A-2019, the definition of disability is based on the social model of disability which understands disability as resulting from the interaction between an impairment or functional limitation and the social and physical environment. A person making an application pursuant to subsection 172(1) of the CTA must, therefore, demonstrate that they have an impairment or functional limitation that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders their full and equal participation in society.

[13] In his application, the applicant identifies his impairment as “severe allergies”, adding that he cannot eat any food containing sugar, sweetener, or alcohol. The medical evidence that he filed supports his request for a meal with no alcohol, and there is no allegation that there was any alcohol in the meal. However, the medical evidence does not support the applicant’s assertion that he has an allergy to sugar or sweetener; therefore, the Agency is unable to find that the applicant is a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in the form of a sugar-free or sweetener-free meal.

CONCLUSION

In light of the above, the Agency finds that the applicant did not meet his burden of proof to demonstrate that he is a person with a disability who requires a sugar-free and sweetener-free meal to accommodate a disability. The Agency, therefore, dismisses the application.