Air Canada strike fallout: 2 class-action lawsuits proposed in Montreal

Two possible class-action lawsuits by Air Canada passengers affected by the airline’s flight attendant strike were submitted in court in Montreal Monday.

Both Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) are named as defendants in the legal motions.

One of those potential lawsuits suggests Air Canada broke the law by not providing a reservation for a “next available flight” or “alternate travel arrangements” to a customer who had her flight cancelled.

The plaintiff, a Montreal resident, alleges her Aug. 17 flight to Grenada was cancelled and she paid to fly out with a competing carrier days later – when she says Air Canada should have offered her an earlier option.

“Air Canada misled the class members and provided them with inaccurate information in order to convince them to accept a refund,” the document reads.

Joey Zukran, the lead lawyer in that lawsuit, says the airline had the legal obligation to reserve a passenger on a next flight within 48 hours, either with Air Canada or a company with whom it has a contractual agreement.

“Here’s the problem,” Zukran told CityNews. “Our client, who is the lead plaintiff in this case, had a ticket to fly to Grenada. She’s a veterinary student studying in Grenada. Her school started on Monday, university, and she had a flight to leave on Sunday, this past Sunday. On Saturday, she receives that email from Air Canada saying, ‘We’re sorry your flight has been cancelled due to the strike, and we’re doing our best to get you on the next flight within three days.’ The problem is that this representation or the contents of this email is completely contradictory and contrary to the federal regulations, which says Air Canada has to book her within two days, not three days.

“Then it goes on to say, ‘if you want to explore other options, manage your booking, click here to request a refund.’ Of course, the problem with the refund is that it’s not actually a refund, it’s a credit towards future travel. Now, the refund is being offered based on a false or illegal declaration, which is that supposedly Air Canada could have booked her on within three days when the law is crystal clear.”

Adding, “The purpose of the class action is to effectively, A, obtain a refund for everybody who’s out of pocket, who had no choice but to book their own travel back home … In other words, if you’ve done absolutely nothing, you will be automatically included in the class action.”

Vacation to Mexico cancelled

The second possible class action targets both Air Canada and CUPE, the union that represents the workers who went on strike. In it, a resident of Brossard, just south of Montreal, claims a cancelled family vacation to Mexico on Aug. 18 caused “significant harm” including “anxiety, disappointment, and sadness.”

CUPE tells CityNews it’s only the airline – not the union – that should be targeted by frustrated customers.

“Air Canada has obligations to its customers and if they are not fulfilling them, Air Canada should be held accountable for this, not the union. We stand in solidarity with passengers whose rights are being violated, just as ours were,” said Nathalie Garceau, a senior officer with CUPE’s communication branch.

The court must grant permission to the plaintiffs to allow them to file their lawsuits.

“When you’re Air Canada, and you start your correspondence or your communication to a client on a false and illegal, let’s make no mistake, illegal pretext or declaration, everything else that follows that is tainted,” said Zukran.

If authorized by a judge, Zukran says that his firm’s lawsuit would automatically cover passengers whose flights were disrupted. 

CityNews reached out to Air Canada, but has not heard back at this time.

Passengers still scrambling

Many passengers at Montreal’s Trudeau airport have been left scrambling to get a hold of a flight; it’s a situation that feels all too familiar.

“I had a flight yesterday actually and it got canceled and then they said that they tried finding flights for me. They didn’t, so I had to go find one myself,” said Anahi, a traveller.

Canada’s air passenger protection rules also require airlines to provide accommodations when travellers are stranded overnight.

“I’ve asked for a hotel, they said no. Um, so I’ve just basically been stranded here,” Anahi explained.

Rene, another traveller, said, “Air Canada booked us a hotel for last night. And they gave us vouchers so we could eat yesterday. We need to stay here for two more days, but we don’t know how we’re going to manage.”

Adding, “Yesterday we were told to come to the airport and we were told that we would be informed of the next steps. We were told that everything would be explained to us. We arrived here and were informed that there was no other option but to pay for the hotel ourselves or find our own solution.”

Tentative deal reached

On Tuesday morning, Air Canada reached a tentative deal with the union representing its flight attendants to end a strike that began Saturday morning.

The airline was expected to gradually restart its operations Tuesday afternoon, with a focus on international outbounds, while a ramp-up for mainline North American routes will begin Wednesday morning. The airline has cautioned that a return to full, regular service would take seven to 10 days as aircraft and crew are out of position. Some flights will continue to be cancelled until the schedule is stabilized.

Air Canada and the flight attendants’ union met through the night with a federal mediator before reaching a tentative agreement. The deal will be brought to more than 10,000 members of the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees for a vote.

In a statement, the union said the tentative deal would end the practice of unpaid work by flight attendants when airplanes aren’t in the air. It added the agreement also achieves “transformational change for our industry after a historic fight to affirm our charter rights.”

The federal government intervened in the strike on Saturday morning, invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to force the airline and the union into binding arbitration. The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered flight attendants to return to work Sunday.

That order was defied by union officials, leading the board to state Monday that the strike was unlawful even as the union said it would press ahead. The board ordered the union to stand down and publicly tell its members to do the same by noon ET Monday, which the union didn’t do.

CUPE said meetings with the airline resumed Monday evening after the company reached out.

The two sides struck a deal shortly before 4:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday.

–With files from The Canadian Press