Flair Airlines ordered to pay for damaged products due to baggage delay

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Flair Airlines is based in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Canadian Press

Court has ordered Flair Airlines to pay hundreds of dollars in compensation to man whose crab meat and kibble of fish deteriorated in his luggage after a delay of several days.

Discount carrier must pay $780 to Brian Vu, for the damaged items as well as baggage fees, interest and legal fees, according to a decision released Thursday by the Civil Resolution Tribunal of British Columbia.

< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hnvfyV">Mr. Vu flew from British Columbia to Ontario on November 6, 2022, paying $72 to check two bags, one of which did not arrive as November 10.

The delayed baggage contained sea cucumbers, marine animals with leathery skin, and dandelion roots as well as crab and fish, all of which went bad, the loss of which amounted to $522, the traveler said.

The items deteriorated on their own, wrote tribunal member Peter Mennie, paraphrasing the airline.

Flair also argued that its contract with passengers prohibited them from packing perishable items in checked baggage.

However, the court said that carriers are responsible for suitcases once they are checked, that they contain or not objects that they should not contain.

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The Canadian Transportation Agency has repeatedly maintained that , if an airline accepts checked baggage, then it assumes responsibility for the baggage, even if it did not agree to carry certain items, Mr. Mennie wrote.

An airline is liable if damage occurs during any period the checked baggage was in the airline's custody, it said, citing the Montreal Convention, a multilateral treaty on liability and compensation for air travelers.

The Canada's Transportation Act does not allow an airline to evade its responsibility, which is set out in the Passenger Bill of Rights and the Montreal Convention, added Mr. Mennie.

According to the president of the group Air Passenger Rights, Gabor Lukacs, the decision confirms that fanciful contract language does not override federal rules.

Airlines love to avoid liability, even though the law says they must pay compensation , said Mr. Lukacs. The significance of this case is that it reaffirms the well-established principle that this is not possible, this is not permissible under the law in Canada.