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Canada’s major airlines have been hit with another class action lawsuit, this time, against the Quebec-based company, Air Transat as well as Air Canada and their subsidiaries. Echoing previous Canadian airline class action lawsuits, this class action concerns Air Transat’s refusal to refund travellers for flights cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In light of the COVID-19 travel restrictions, Air Transat and Air Canada cancelled most flights scheduled throughout April. Instead of refunding passengers, as per the usual policy, the Canadian airlines named in the class action lawsuit offered passengers airline vouchers, to be used within 24 months.
Last June, the lead plaintiff, Alain Lachaine, purchased a travel package and flight with Air Transat to Florida, worth over $13,000. Alain’s vacation was to extend from April 3 to 17, 2020. However, like many other Air Transat customers, Alain’s flight was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
When he found out about the cancellations, Alain tried to get a refund for his cancelled flights and vacation package. However, to the plaintiff’s surprise, Air Transat no longer offered refunds, and he was offered vouchers, as announced on Air Transat’s website:
“Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are temporarily suspending our flights until June 30, 2020. If you were unable to travel due to the cancellation of your flight, you will receive a credit for future travel to be used within 24 months of your original return dates. You do not need to contact us to obtain this credit, it will be automatically applied to your account.”
The airline’s refusal to refund the cost paid by Alain, in spite of the cancellations, caused him “trouble and inconvenience,” according to the Air Transat Class Action proposal. The class action proposal claims that “the defendants, Air Transat and Vacances Transat, were nevertheless under an obligation to offer a full refund of the price paid by the plaintiff.”
The Air Transat Class Action proposal highlights the fact that Alain is now prevented from recovering money “which he needs to deal with the current crisis.”
Sudden Policy Change
Perrier Avocats and Donati Maisonneuve, the Class Members’ representing law firms called the flight refund refusals a “unilateral change in the cancellation policy,” and are asking the Superior Court of Québec to order the defendants to refund customers whose flights were cancelled due to COVID-19, as well as to pay passengers an additional $250 for trouble and inconvenience.
According to one of the Class lawyers, Réjean Paul Forget of Perrier Avocats, Sunwing Airlines initially offered refunds to customers who found themselves in the same situation as Air Transat Class Members, before changing its cancellation policy mid-March. The Toronto-based airline, continued Forget, could be added to the Air Transat Class Action Lawsuit in the future.
If successful, the Canadian class action could allow thousands of travellers to recover millions of dollars’ worth of cancelled flight tickets. The proposed class action lawsuit covers anyone who purchased an airline ticket or travel package with Air Transat, Transat Tours Canada Inc., Air Canada or Société en commandite Touram that was subsequently cancelled as a result of COVID-19 restrictions and was unable to be refunded.
Class Actions Against Canadian Airlines Pile Up
The Air Transat Class Action Lawsuit is but an addition to a long line of similar Canadian airline class actions. Among the leading Canadian airlines hit with class actions are, Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing, Swoop– and now Air Transat.
One of the Canadian airline class action lawsuits named the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) in its class action proposal, claiming the CTA inappropriately sided with the airlines offering vouchers instead of refunds to passengers of cancelled flights. In March, the CTA announced in an online statement that airlines were not obliged to refund passengers for flights cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis or for other reasons outside an airline’s control.
For its part, the CTA responded that its online statement regarding vouchers should not be interpreted as legally binding. According to the agency, the statement should only be taken as an aid to “provide guidance in a situation without precedent.”
Have you been offered a voucher rather than a refund for air travel you had to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Tell us your story in the comment section below!
The plaintiffs are represented by Perrier Avocats and Donati Maisonneuve.
The Air Transat Class Action Lawsuit is Alain Lachaine v. Transat A.T. Inc. et al., Case No. 500-06-001052-204, in the Superior Court of Québec in Montreal, Canada.
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109 thoughts onAir Transat Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Vouchers
I have been in Jamaica since January and my flight home got cancelled due to the COVID. While purchasing my flight, they stated many times that I would get refunded ONLY IF MY FLIGHT IS CANCELLED DUE TO THE COVID (which it was!!!!!), only to get an e-mail saying I will only get a voucher. I need the money back so i can purchase a flight back home with another airline and they’re refusing to refund me
Family trip toUK from Vancouver cancelled by Air Transat , I have called several times demanding my money back . They refuse I need the money and the Airline is treating its customers with such disregard . They need the money or will go out of business well hey so do we . You broke your contract now please honour the terms and conditions we both entered into
Much the same story, booked in 2019, was to fly in May 2020. Flight canceled, travel agent said we would get a travel voucher we said we would try a refund thru our credit card company. Just told last thrusday that credit card company would not refund the money because Air Transat “does not agree with the refund”, so we have no refund, no travel voucher, left many messages with Air Transat, called back CIBC visa and was told it’s out of their hands. We have lost thousands of dollars and no one in government seems to care.
Please add me to your class action as well.
I had a Lisbon flight booked for October 24. Because I booked early (April) and my flight was prior to Oct 31, I fell into the category. I received a voucher 2 days ago with ZERO warning or explanation, hardly any instructions on it. I couldn’t get hold of anyone on the phone due to the long waiting times, and no one has replied via social media (the second suggested contact option). We can’t even use the voucher codes to rebook online, and are forced to call their customer service line.
I had booked my trip for medical appointments, which are not easily rescheduled.
Upon further research, I noticed there’s still a flight on the same date, except the departure time is 4 hours earlier, and it’s now a connecting flight with a change of plane via Montreal. On another date, there is no connecting flight until 2 days later… Most of them in October are connecting flights Toronto-Montreal-Lisbon. As someone with mobility issues, a change of planes is rather inconvenient not just for me but for staff as well.
But the main issue here is: how is this helping with Covid-19 prevention, when you’re boarding, deplaning, waiting at another terminal, and boarding a second plane? Unnecessary extra health risks we shouldn’t be taking.
I’d like my money back for a trip we planned to Portugal this past April we were not able to go on
My trip cancellation insurance won’t cover the amount lost
Just a travel voucher
I can’t afford to quarantine h or 14 days after any future
Trip and with our ages ( seniors) it’s not safe
I bought tickets for my husband, daughter and son and I. We were to fly from Vancouver to Amsterdam on July 5th. They told us our flights have been cancelled and they would be issuing us a credit/voucher per person. This was a special trip where we were meeting and travelling with another family. Who knows when or if we will get to go back. My husband and I are teachers. We can’t afford to have thousands of dollars sitting with the airline. We would like our money back.
My parents to return to their home country, Air Transat will not be flying to that destination before November. My parents should be leaving in July and I need the refund to re-book another ticket with a different airline which is actually leaving in July. They refuse to refund and giving me a two years voucher which I know will never be used.
Also, my mother in law was to return to Canada in June, her flight was cancelled also and they refused to refund the amount and we would like the refund to re-book her also on another flight that will leaving and coming to Canada. We have to work she is the one that stays with our children while we work.
My mother purchased tickets for air transat flight in January through a booking agent. Flight was to leave On June 3rd to the UK but was cancelled. She is unable to get a refund only a voucher that she can likely not use. She has tried everything for a refund but has been unsuccessful.
We purchased two roundtrip tickets to Dublin for June 13th To June 30 flight cancelled. Will not refund money. Want refund because we dont know when we will be going.
Please add me to the Class Action against Transat Holidays and Air Transat
When Transat Holidays cancelled my vacation to France in April I was assured by my Travel Agency that if I took a travel credit that I would not lose any money and would have 24 months to travel with Transat. See below from my Travel Agency:
“So in other words, if I choose option 1, I don’t lose any money currently invested as long as I travel within the next 24 months.
Do I understand this correctly?? “Yes this is correct. You would have your full credit for 24 months. I can refund your insurance with this option, if you would prefer, but I am suggesting to keep it as it still has the best coverage and I know for a fact that insurance premiums will be increasing”
Note: Option 2 was a refund of $88.00, leaving no other choice but option one.
I was fine with that until I received my “credit letter” from my Travel Agency and they are indicating that my travel credit is actually about 1/3 of what I have invested in my vacation, which completely contradicts what I was promised from my Travel Agency and is also the epitome of bad business by Transat Holidays.
I have just received confirmation that I am receiving a full credit for money spent as long as I book travel with Air Transat in the next 24 months. As a result, please remove my name from this class action suit.