Decision No. 38-C-A-2023

[1] The applicants purchased round-trip tickets for travel with the respondent between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Cancun, Mexico, via Mexico City, Mexico, departing on December 6, 2019. The applicants state that the departure of the flight from Vancouver was delayed by 2 hours and 47 minutes, and provide flight tracker information for the flight in question. They submit that the delay was caused by a bomb threat onboard the aircraft.

[2] The applicants claim that the respondent advised them that they would miss their connecting flight to Cancun, as their original itinerary only included a 2-hour stop in Mexico City. The applicants allege that the respondent informed them that it would assist them further upon their arrival in Mexico City. Unsatisfied with this arrangement, the applicants chose instead to purchase tickets with WestJet to complete their itinerary, at a cost of CAD 2,759.25.

[3] The applicants claim that the respondent refused to provide them with any compensation or to refund them for the cost of their original itinerary. They seek CAD 2,759.25 as compensation for the cost of the tickets purchased with WestJet.

[4] The respondent did not file an answer to the application.

[5] In this decision, the role of the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) is to decide whether the respondent properly applied the terms and conditions that were applicable to the tickets that the applicants purchased. If the Agency finds that the respondent failed to properly apply its Tariff, it can direct the respondent to take corrective measures that it considers appropriate or to pay compensation for any expense incurred by a person adversely affected by the respondent’s failure.

[6] As the applicants have stated that the flight delay was caused by a bomb threat, the Agency finds the cause of the delay to have been outside of the respondent’s control.

[7] According to the Tariff, when a passenger experiences a schedule irregularity that was outside the respondent’s control, it will provide the passenger with alternative travel arrangements. The Tariff also states that if the passenger is not satisfied with the alternative travel arrangements offered and no portion of their ticket has been used, the respondent will provide them with a refund for the fare and charges paid.

[8] Given that the respondent did not file an answer to the application, the Agency accepts the applicants’ position as undisputed. The Agency accepts the applicants’ claim that they were not provided with a refund and, therefore, finds that the respondent failed to properly apply its Tariff. The applicants purchased their tickets on October 9, 2019, at a cost of MXN 12,432.03 which, according to the Bank of Canada’s historical exchange rates, was equivalent to CAD 846.62 on that date.

Order

[9] The Agency orders the respondent to compensate the applicants in the amount of CAD 846.62 as soon as possible and no later than May 16, 2023.