IMPORTANT UPDATE – In Quebec, this class action was authorized on January 13, 2026. For more information, please consult our press release here.
Monetary Compensation Owed to Passengers Under the APPR
The Air Passenger Protection Regulations (the “APPR”) establish the treatment that air carriers operating in Canada owe to their passengers. These regulations mandate that air carriers owe compensation to individuals flying to, from or within Canada whose flight was delayed or cancelled or who were denied boarding under prescribed circumstances.
If a passenger’s flight was delayed or cancelled or they were denied boarding due to a situation within the air carrier’s control and not required for safety purposes, and the air carrier did not inform the passenger of this more than 14 days before the scheduled departure time, the APPR require the air carrier to pay the passenger monetary compensation regardless of whether the cost for the original ticket was refunded.
Compensation under the APPR is only available if a passenger submits a written claim for compensation with the air carrier within one year of the delay or cancellation.
Passengers can submit their claim for compensation with Air Canada by clicking this link and providing details about their flight: https://accc-prod.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-CA/air-canada-contact-us/?stepid=1f056d12-bbfe-e611-80f3-e0071b66cfa1#tileRefundRequest
If Air Canada does not respond within 30 days or a passenger is dissatisfied with Air Canada’s response, the passenger can submit a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Authority through this link: https://rppa-appr.ca/eng/air-travel-complaints
Air Canada’s Denial of Compensation
This lawsuit alleges that Air Canada has denied passengers compensation to passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled due to crew shortages or similar staffing-related reasons. According to the Canadian Transportation Authority, passengers whose flights were disrupted on this basis may be entitled to compensation.
Slater Vecchio LLP has filed a proposed class action to hold Air Canada accountable for its refusal to pay compensation under the APPR for flight disruptions caused by staffing-related issues.
A class action is a legal case through which one person makes a claim to the Court on behalf of a similarly situated class of people who have the same or a similar legal claim. A class action seeks to hold a defendant or defendants responsible for their conduct that affects each member of the class by resolving issues that are common to the class in the same legal proceeding, instead of each class member bringing a claim individually.
The individual who first files the claim must ask the Court for permission to proceed as a class action. If permission is granted (referred as “authorized” in Quebec, and “certified” in all other Canadian provinces) and the case may proceed as a class action, the Court will appoint an individual as “Representative Plaintiff” to represent the best interests of the class during the litigation and define the class group. Each person who meets the criteria of the class group is considered a “Class Member”.
In Quebec’s Superior Court, the class has been defined as follows:
All passengers on flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, or Air Canada Express, subject to the RPPA, who, between December 15, 2019, and August 7, 2022, arrived at their final destination at least three hours behind the scheduled arrival time, as a result of a flight disruption attributable to staffing issues or staffing constraints, of which they were notified within fourteen days prior to the scheduled departure time and for which Air Canada maintained were attributable to the carrier but necessary for safety reasons and which, at the expiry of the deadline to opt out of this class action, did not have a pending complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency.
This class action does not seek to compensate passengers for any compensation that may be owed under the Montreal Convention.
Individuals who were impacted by a flight disruption, between December 15, 2019, and August 7, 2022 that they believe was within Air Canada’s control that they were informed of less than 14 days before the scheduled departure time can file a request for compensation with Air Canada: https://accc-prod.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-CA/air-canada-contact-us/?stepid=1f056d12-bbfe-e611-80f3-e0071b66cfa1#tileRefundRequest
If Air Canada does not respond within 30 days or a passenger is dissatisfied with Air Canada’s response, individuals can file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Authority: https://rppa-appr.ca/eng/air-travel-complaints
Individuals should also locate and keep all documents and correspondence related to their flight, their flight disruption and their request(s) for compensation.
If your flight with Air Canada was cancelled or delayed, or you were denied boarding, and you were not provided compensation, we invite you to submit your information through the “Contact Form” on this webpage and a representative from Slater Vecchio LLP will reach out to you.
