Air Canada rejected claims in error for recent delays

Airline says denials a mistake and will compensate clients

Air Canada has rejected compensation claims from some travellers who were among the thousands affected by flight delays caused by computer problems in recent weeks — a response it now calls “erroneous,” with cash offers en route.

In messages to some customers, the airline initially said the information technology fumble was out of its hands, relieving it of obligations to pay them compensation.

“In this instance, the compensation you are requesting does not apply because the disruption was caused by an event outside of our control. This flight is delayed due to an unforeseen technology issue, impacting one of our suppliers, which is impacting our operations,” the airline said Thursday in an email to passenger Douglas Judson.

Judson said he arrived more than three hours late after his June 1 flight from Winnipeg to Toronto was delayed due to the IT defect.

“I find the dishonesty and disrespect of it the most galling,” he said in a phone interview. “Some really interesting logic puzzles at Air Canada as to when something is actually their fault.”

While denying his compensation request, Air Canada offered him a15 per cent fare discount on any upcoming flight as a “goodwill gesture.”

When contacted by The Canadian Press on Friday, the Montrealbased company said the response stemmed from an error.

“Air Canada is offering compensation in line with APPR (Air Passenger Protection Regulations) compensation levels for flights which were affected by the IT outage. Some passengers had received erroneous responses from us, and we are in the process of re-contacting them with the correct responses,” spokesperson Angela Mah stated.

The country’s largest carrier has struggled with intermittent computer problems over the past 15 days.

On May 25, it delayed more than half its flights due to a “technical issue” with the system that the airline uses to communicate with aircraft and monitor their performance. On June 1 it delayed or cancelled more than 500 flights — over three-quarters of its trips that day, according to tracking service Flight Aware — due to “IT issues.”

That same day, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra stressed the carrier’s compensation responsibilities to its guests.

“Air Canada has obligations to passengers who are impacted because it is caused by things that the airline has control over,” he told reporters June 1, hours after the IT issues resurfaced.