The Court of Appeal of Quebec has ordered Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) to pay CAD10 million Canadian dollars (USD7.2 million) in punitive damages after it was found to have violated the province’s Consumer Protection Act by advertising prices that did not include all mandatory fees and charges, thereby misleading consumers.
CBC/Radio-Canada reported that the decision overturns a previous lower court decision that found the airline to have breached the law but that no harm resulted, eliminating the need for punitive damages.
The court held that misleading pricing, even at the first stage of a transaction, impacts consumers’ decision making and violates their right to clear and accurate information.
The case dates back to 2010, when Quebec introduced a revised version of the Consumer Act requiring the full advertised price to be clearly stated. At the time, Michael Silas, a consumer designated in the class action, attempted to purchase a flight on the airline’s website but noted that only the base fare was shown without the full mandatory charges.
The court found that the carrier persisted in its practice for over 18 months between June 30, 2010 and February 8, 2012, selling 692,241 tickets through its website to Quebec consumers, justifying the CAD10 million punitive damages. Air Canada did not dispute the figures.
In a statement to ch-aviation, Air Canada said: "We are currently reviewing this decision, which is based primarily on a difference over the interpretation of the articulation and interaction of federal and provincial laws prior to February 8, 2012, which has since been clarified by evolving case law. The circumstances that gave rise to the decision, therefore, have not existed since 2012."
