Sunwing Airlines seeking to overturn Regina couple's $800 compensation decision
A Regina couple who were paid $800 in compensation from Sunwing Airlines are now being taken back to court as the airline seeks to overturn the decision.
According to the original decision, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ordered Sunwing Airlines to pay $800 to Mickey and Donna Anslow after their return flight to Regina from Cancun was delayed in March of 2020.
However, Sunwing Airlines is now fighting the decision on the grounds that a safety issue caused the delay. According to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, if a delay is required for safety reasons, the airline is not obligated to pay compensation.
Kristine D’Arbelles, the senior director of public affairs for CAA national spoke with CTV News on the topic.
“I think anyone would agree that you wouldn’t wanna get on a plane that is not safe ... However, it is a very grey area and that definition of safe has been known to be stretched by airlines which is why we're seeing this in battles right now in court,” she explained.
She went on to express that CAA has been calling for more clarity as to when passengers are or aren’t entitled to compensation.
“We were supposed to see some changes coming in the winter, that turned into the spring and here we are in the summer and the changes haven’t come. We’re getting worried, we really do hope that those changes do come because the added clarity is just gonna make this system that much stronger and better for travellers.”
Currently the process of receiving compensation involves reaching out to the airline and waiting 30 days before taking the matter up with the CTA.
In the initial court ruling, it was determined that “Compensation for inconvenience is owed if the delay was within the respondent’s [Sunwing] control, but it is not owed if the delay was within its control but required for safety purposes.”
“The aircraft’s lavatories were frozen and leaking because an aircraft heater had been turned off for an unknown period of time prior to departure at the aircraft’s point of origin in Regina,” the ruling read.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING B.C. carjacking suspect sped across U.S. border before arrest, police say
Authorities have arrested a suspect who allegedly carjacked a pickup truck in B.C.'s Lower Mainland then sped across the U.S. border, triggering a massive police response.
Ottawa has sold its stake in Air Canada: sources
Two senior federal government sources have confirmed to CTV News that the federal government has sold its stake in Air Canada. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the government purchased a six per cent stake in the airline for $500 million as part of a bailout package.
Premiers disagree on whether Canada should cut off energy supply to U.S. if Trump moves ahead with tariffs
Some of Canada's premiers appeared to disagree with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on his approach to retaliatory measures, less than a day after he threatened to cut off the province's energy supply to the U.S. if president-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat of punishing tariffs.
'Very concerned': Crews search B.C. ski resort for missing man
Police and rescue crews are searching for a man who was last seen boarding a ski lift at B.C.'s Sun Peaks Resort Tuesday.
Man who set fires inside Calgary's municipal building lost testicle during arrest: ASIRT
Two Calgary police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in an incident that saw a suspect lose a testicle after being shot with an anti-riot weapon.
Travis Vader, killer of Lyle and Marie McCann, denied day parole
The man who killed an Alberta couple in 2010 has been denied day parole.
Blizzard warning shuts down large parts of midwestern Ontario
It was a day to stay home, if you could, across much of midwestern Ontario due to weather.
She took a DNA test for fun. Police used it to charge her grandmother with murder in a cold case
According to court documents, detectives reopened the cold case in 2017 and then worked with a forensics company to extract DNA from Baby Garnet's partial femur, before sending the results to Identifinders International.
McDonald's employee who called 911 in CEO's shooting is eligible for reward, but it will take time
More than 400 tips were called into the New York Police Department's Crime Stoppers tip line during the five-day search for a masked gunman who ambushed and fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.