Appeal court reduces penalty Air Canada has to pay for Engli

[bmc]

Send this loser back to France ,,,, Actually they wouldnt want him there ,,

That isn't French behaviour. That's Quebec "we want" behaviour.

They're not the ones to blame. Canada has a legal system that enables such stupidity to be taken seriously.

[43S/172E]

From the Globe and Mail October 28 2014

Air Canada won't have to pay couple for not serving in French, top court rules
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Oct. 28 2014, 10:54 AM EDT

Last updated Tuesday, Oct. 28 2014, 2:28 PM EDT

The Supreme Court has ruled that Air Canada does not have to compensate an Ontario couple who said they were not served in French on international flights.

The court says Lynda and Michel Thibodeau are not entitled to $12,000 the Federal Court said they could get. That decision was subsequently overruled by the Federal Court of Appeal.

The Thibodeaus filed several complaints with the official languages commissioner over the English-only services they say they received from the airline during trips taken between January and May, 2009.

Air Canada previously apologized to the couple.

In its ruling today, the high court noted that the Montreal Convention, a multilateral treaty adopted in 1999, provides for compensation only in cases of death, injury, delays or baggage-related incidents.

[Krimson]

Finally some sense to this story. I hope Air Canada paid them already and now is entitled to the money back! 1 year later, here's a court ordered bill for $12000!

[7ECA]

Hmm, suing when you don't get your desired brand of beverage... Interesting...

When I last flew Air Canada, from Vancouver to Toronto, when asked if I would like a drink, I asked for iced tea, but was told that they did not have any. Damnit I've been discriminated against, and I demand that Air Canada bend over, and pay me a large sum of money for inconveniencing me!

Actually, I just said I'll have water then. And I stuck it to Air Canada, by asking for a refill.

[cdnpilot77]

What's the legality of refusing these people an airline ticket in the future? No fly list? If I was AC, I would never want them on another company flight, ever!

Greedy is too small of a word for the people! If I were a Francophone in Canada (TeePeeCreeper) I would be all over these people letting them know that they do not represent the majority of French speaking people of Canada. This is just an embarrassment to all Francophones and good on the Supreme Court for getting this one right!

[JBI]

The really interesting thing about this Supreme Court decision actually has nothing to do with language rights or what type of pop the bilingual passengers ordered in French. The key is that the Montreal Convention is the exclusive remedy for claims made by passengers on international flights.

The Montreal Convention (the successor to the Warsaw Convention) is the law that applies to any airline flight between most international destinations. It outlines strict liability for the airlines for certain types of claims including bodily injuries, delay, loss of baggage. Not surprisingly, it is silent on the issue of language rights.

The Air Canada Participation Act and the Official Languages Act requires Air Canada, by law, to provide bilingual service in many different circumstances, including the flight that these particular passengers were on and then provides the ability to fine the airline and/or reward the passengers. So in this situation, you have a Canadian law conflicting with an International Convention that Canada is a signatory to and has made part of Canadian Law - so what prevails?

The Supreme Court of Canada says Montreal Convention.

Also of note - many airlines, not just Air Canada, are required by law to make bilingual announcements at certain airports. Air Canada did not in some complaints by these same passengers and did not appeal the findings against them from the lower court.

[North Shore]

JBI, does that then mean that AC could stop rendering cabin announcements in French, if they so wanted?
It's funny, a few years back, I flew from Toronto to Vancouver. There was a group of Japanese tourists on board. I'm pretty sure that most of them spoke no French at all, and rudimentary English if they were lucky. Id also be willing to bet that there were no unilingual francophones, given the route; yet all the announcements were given in both English and French. Triumph of bureaucracy over common sense..

[JBI]

JBI, does that then mean that AC could stop rendering cabin announcements in French, if they so wanted?
It's funny, a few years back, I flew from Toronto to Vancouver. There was a group of Japanese tourists on board. I'm pretty sure that most of them spoke no French at all, and rudimentary English if they were lucky. Id also be willing to bet that there were no unilingual francophones, given the route; yet all the announcements were given in both English and French. Triumph of bureaucracy over common sense..

I'd have to take a read of the full legislation. I don't think it takes it as far as saying that Air Canada could ignore bilingual announcements on international flights (The Montreal Convention does not apply to domestic flights), but it definitely limits what remedies a complainant may have on those flights if they can't receive a service in either of the official languages.

Je dois prendre une lecture de la législation plein. Je ne pense pas qu'il faille aussi loin que de dire que Air Canada pourrait ne pas tenir compte des annonces bilingues sur les vols internationaux (Convention de Montréal ne concerne pas les vols intérieurs), mais il a certainement des limites quels sont les recours d'un plaignant peut avoir sur ces vols si elles le peuvent 't recevoir un service dans l'une des langues officielles.

(brought to you by google translate)