Air Canada was ordered to pay him $15K for his delayed flights. Now they’re

For the last two and a half years, Rejean Landry has been caught in a legal battle with Air Canada, seeking compensation after his family arrived at their final destination more than 24 hours late.

In November, a judge in Ontario’s small claims court ruled in the Ottawa man’s favour, ordering Air Canada to pay almost $15,000 dollars.

“And we were happy, satisfied, relieved for a few weeks,” Landry said. “Until yesterday, when I got a notice of appeal from Air Canada.”

Experts say that large companies are increasingly willing to appeal decisions and fight passengers in court to avoid compensating them, despite the hefty legal fees they incur.

Air Canada declined to comment to CBC because Landry’s case is still in court.

Panicked and desperate

When Landry decided to take his children, Sebastien and Emali, on a vacation to Lisbon in July 2022, he knew there could be some complications.

Pandemic restrictions had eased and Canadians were packing airports across the country. 

But when they arrived at the airport in Montreal, they watched as their flight was delayed “over and over and over,” Landry said.

Panicked and desperate, Landry said he bought three new tickets for the next day. When they arrived in Toronto for a layover and spoke to the woman at Air Canada’s desk, she told him he would be refunded.

They eventually landed in Portugal, more than 24 hours later than they planned.

Landry said the first indication something was still wrong came when his children tried to fly home.

They were told their seats were no longer available on the return flight because they hadn’t taken the original flight they had purchased.

Air Canada put them on a United Airlines flight, and Sebastien and Emali arrived in Toronto more than six hours late.

When he was home in Canada, Landry emailed back and forth with Air Canada, asking them to compensate him for his tickets and for not allowing his children to board their intended plane going home.

He said this went on for months before he decided, after Christmas in 2022, that he would file in Ontario’s small claims court.

The nearly $15,000 the court ordered Air Canada to pay included the prices of Landry’s new tickets, nights spent in a hotel, food at the airport, a fee for not allowing Sebastien and Emali to board and other expenses.

‘Air Canada should be ashamed of itself’

Landry said he felt confident going into small claims court because of a Supreme Court ruling in October which dismissed an appeal from airlines arguing that passenger protections violate international law. 

“I went to trial thinking, that’s it, I’m going to win this. Obviously the Supreme Court is on my side,” he said.

But now, he’s not sure how he’ll handle the appeal — and the fact it looks like Air Canada is willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars on…