Air travel delays may be unavoidable—because of weather events, for example. But what if delays are caused by poor maintenance or other things that would have been avoidable with some care and due diligence? The complaint for this class action claims that the plaintiffs were delayed for as much as twenty-four hours, with limited access to food and facilities, losing days of vacation or work, and suffering other physical difficulties or financial losses.
The class proposed for this action seems to be composed of a number of subclasses. One, for example, is (a) all persons living in the US who (b) had a confirmed reservation on flight 512 operated by Air Canada on June 9, 2018 from Chicago to Toronto, (c) the flight was delayed or cancelled for a reason other than extraordinary circumstances, (d) the persons were not informed of the delay or cancellation less than seven days before departure and was not offered meaningful rerouting, allowing them to leave no more than one hour before the scheduled departure and to reach their destination less than two hours after the scheduled arrival, (d) the persons were affected by the delay or cancellation for at least three hours. Others have different departure dates or routing or other details. (See the complaint for more details.)
The complaint refers to a treaty known as the Montreal Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (1999). This convention sets forth “the private cause of action for money damages caused by delay or cancellation of international airfare transportation[.]”The US, Canada, and Ukraine are all signatories.
At issue are trips taken by the nine plaintiffs between Chicago, Illinois and Kiev, Ukraine with a stop in Toronto, Canada, with air transportation provided by defendants Air Canada and Ukraine International Airlines (UIA).
For example, plaintiff Vasyl Rusak had a ticket to fly from Chicago to Kiev on June 9, 2018. The complaint says that his flight from Chicago was delayed “for many hours” so that he missed his connecting flights out of Toronto. He had to stay overnight in Toronto, extending his in-transit time by seventeen hours. He arrived in Kiev more than twenty-four hours after his intended arrival time and thus missed an important business meeting. The complaint says that during his delay in Chicago he was “not provided with any meaningful assistance” nor given any compensation as specified in the Montreal Convention.
According to the complaint, the delays experienced by Rusak and the other plaintiffs were not caused by extraordinary circumstances. It implies that the problem could have been avoided by “due exercise of due diligence” or other means. Rusak seems to have filed a written claim for lost wages and compensation under the Montreal Convention, but the complaint says that it was ignored.
The stories of the other plaintiffs are similar, some with longer delays, and some having to spend additional money for travel to a final destination beyond Kiev. One incurred “travel cancellation expenses in the sum of $2897” because of the delays.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Air Canada, Ukraine International Airlines Avoidable Delays Complaint
December 20, 2018
Air travel delays may be unavoidable—because of weather events, for example. But what if delays are caused by poor maintenance or other things that would have been avoidable with some care and due diligence? The complaint for this class action claims that the plaintiffs were delayed for as much as twenty-four hours, with limited access to food and facilities, losing days of vacation or work, and suffering other physical difficulties or financial losses.
air_canada_flight_delays_compl.pdfCase Event History
Air Canada, Ukraine International Airlines Avoidable Delays Complaint
December 20, 2018
Air travel delays may be unavoidable—because of weather events, for example. But what if delays are caused by poor maintenance or other things that would have been avoidable with some care and due diligence? The complaint for this class action claims that the plaintiffs were delayed for as much as twenty-four hours, with limited access to food and facilities, losing days of vacation or work, and suffering other physical difficulties or financial losses.
air_canada_flight_delays_compl.pdf