How clever couple exposed airline’s lies about canceling their flight in stunning David vs. Goliath courtroom victory

A Canadian airline has been humiliated in court by two passengers who revealed their lies about the reason for a cancelled flight.

Flair Airlines tried to avoid paying damages when its 3:10 p.m. flight from Calgary to Vancouver was cancelled on August 29 last year. The airline first blamed a bird strike and then the weather.

Suspicious passengers become internet detectives Olivia Donner and James Broadhurst conducted their own investigation and found no bird strike records in the Canadian Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS).

The budget airline then emailed Donner, blaming the weather for the cancellation and stressing that she would not have to pay compensation for factors beyond her control.

“There is no evidence before me, other than Flair’s claim, that shows that the flight was cancelled due to a bird strike,” a judge ruled Wednesday. “Flair had the opportunity to present evidence and statements but failed to do so.”

The Alberta-based carrier was the most complained about airline in Canada in 2022, with an average of 15.3 complaints per 100 flights

Less than six hours before departure, the couple received an email informing them that their flight had been cancelled.

The airline blamed a bird strike, later telling the court that the crew of plane Tail 905 had reported multiple bird strikes to the control tower in Vancouver when the plane landed on the previous flight.

However, the airline could not explain why the problem was not reported in the Daily Occurrence Log as required, nor could the airline produce the text message that one of its maintenance experts allegedly sent to his superiors.

The couple were given a 5am flight the next morning and ended up landing 14 hours later than expected.

Donner started digging when the company rejected her claim for compensation through the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, and turned to the Facebook group for help Air Passenger Rights Canada.

“I waited a few weeks and checked the CADORS report but there was no evidence of a bird incident,” she wrote on the relevant page.

‘I emailed Flair asking for compensation, giving them all the details of the situation. I asked for $500 because I was hours late and they couldn’t prove the situation was out of their control.

“They replied, and now they’re telling me the flight was cancelled because of the ‘weather’. Now it seems obvious they’re lying.”

The group members were not surprised by her experience with an airline that received the most complaints about in Canada in 2022, with an average of 15.3 complaints per 100 flights.

The Alberta-based airline promotes itself as the country’s largest independent ultra low-cost carrier under the slogan ‘plane and simple’.

The airline is looking for a new CEO after Stephen Jones retired in June

But tribunal member Jeffrey Drozdiak said his decision was simple, as he ordered the airline to pay Donner and Broadhurst $500 each in compensation within 15 days.

“When a party fails to provide relevant evidence without any explanation, the court may draw an adverse inference,” he wrote in his judgment.

‘An adverse inference is where the CRT assumes that the party has not adduced the relevant evidence because it would have prejudiced their case. I think an adverse inference is appropriate here.

‘Based on this negative inference, I conclude that the cancellation of the flight was likely within Flair’s control.’

The decision was hailed as a victory by some of the Facebook group’s 200,000 members, but many suspected it would make little difference to other passengers.

“Chances are that airlines will take a chance and automatically refuse to accept compensation,” one person wrote.

“A slap on the wrist,” wrote another. “Is this how our courts make sure Flair plays by the rules next time??”

However, some warn that airlines are facing an era of tighter controls.

“Bravo,” one wrote. “At some point the airlines will realize that passengers are getting smarter and better at representing themselves and maybe they will wake up and treat us right.

‘Until then, the battle continues, they keep losing and the passengers win!’