Just a day after Sunwing confirmed it had completed recovery flights to get all of its passengers stranded in destination during the holidays home, comes word that some of those passengers affected by mass delays and flight cancellations are planning to sue the airline.
A group on WhatsApp has been formed called “Sunwing Class Action.” As of 05JAN, group is already 750 members strong, and it focuses on discussions about a class-action law suit against the airline. CBC reports it has communicated with members of the group who claim they’ve had problems receiving legally-required compensation - and even that “would not be enough to cover what they went through.”
Members of the group, who say they are compiling evidence to take to a lawyer, are quoted as telling CBC:
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"I seek a class action not for money, but justice for the stress my mom and I got. It was very disrespectful and insulting of Sunwing to absolutely ignore its customers;”
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"We missed out on Christmas and lost work too. Sunwing should compensate us for all that;"
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“Even after 108 hours of delays, (my) flight is "ineligible for compensation or refund;"
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"This was not weather-related, but Sunwing keeps using that as an excuse. It was utter mismanagement;" and
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"We spent $1,600 on a different airline and car ride home and were delayed 52 hours by Sunwing, but still no compensation or communication.”
Customers also say the Sunwing web site would not let them submit claims. The airline has not responded to CBC’s request for comment.
At least one lawyer thinks they have a case with Regina lawyer Tony Merchant reportedly telling media that pax have "viable class action against Sunwing."
Even if a class-action lawsuit doesn’t go ahead, affected passengers may eventually get the compensation they seek - if not immediately from the airline, then via the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) adjudication process.
As Open Jaw has reported, under the terms of Canada’s updated air passenger protection regulations which took effect 08SEP, airlines now have to provide compensation even if weather or labour shortages are the cause of flight delays or cancellations. Formerly, carriers were not held responsible if the causes were outside of their control.
While airlines opposed the new consumer protection rules, on 06DEC, a Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the airline industry, which had challenged Ottawa’s new passenger ‘bill of rights’ in court.
In the fall, Ottawa gave millions of dollars to the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) to allow it to hire more staff to process claims piling up against airlines.
Feds Give CTA Millions to Clear Backlog of Air Pax Complaints
