The court rejected the Westjet legal challenge of the order to compensate for the passenger for delay

An appeal court has rejected a legal challenge filed by Westjet, which is at the order to compensate a passenger to a passenger to cancel the flight, possibly an example for other such cases.

Canada’s Transport Regulatory – Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) – ordered Westjet to pay $ 1,000 to a passenger to cancel the 2021 flight. The Federal Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that there was no “no reviewable error” in the CTA’s decision.

Westjet had said that the cancellation was for security purposes and hence the passenger should not be required to compensate.

But the three-judge panel found that Westjet did not provide enough evidence to the CTA to support its claim.

“The agency was to be satisfied, on the balance of possibilities and earlier evidence, that (Westjet) took appropriate measures to implement a proper contingent plan to reduce the flight disruption resulting from the lack of crew due to the absence of the first officer,” was released on Monday.

The ruling said, “The appellant led insufficient evidence to satisfy the agency. I think the agency has not made any reviewable error.”

Under the CTA rules, airlines are required – under some circumstances – when the flight is delayed or canceled, to compensate for the passengers.

Implications for other legal challenges

The case included passenger Owen Laru, whose flight from Regina to Ottawa’s house was canceled in July 2021, delayed by 21 hours.

According to CTA, Westjet argued that a pilot had called the sick about an hour before the take-off and could not be found in a replacement time, so the cancellation of the flight was a security issue that does not warrant compensation.

But CTA- A semi-judicial tribunal and regulator tasked the disputes between the airlines and the customers-that the Westjet decided that the Westjet “did not establish enough” that the flight was canceled was indispensable, so it ordered the airline to compensate the airline to compensate the Laroo $ 1,000.

Monday’s decision may have implications for other cases where the airlines have challenged CTA decisions. Air Canada, who was an intervention in the case of laru, has also filed legal challenges for the agency decisions.

CBC News has asked Westjet to comment on the court’s decision.