Air Canada has been slapped with a hefty fine for misleading customers with confusing ticket prices.
In a major legal win for Quebec consumers, the province's Court of Appeal has ordered the airline to pay $10 million in punitive damages over questionable pricing practices on its website.
The decision, released on Tuesday, concludes a long-running class-action lawsuit launched by the Union des consommateurs. The airline was found to have violated Article 224 of Quebec's Consumer Protection Act by advertising base ticket prices without including additional charges like fees and taxes until later in the booking process — a move the court says misled buyers.
While Air Canada argued that those extra costs were disclosed before purchase, the court found that displaying a lower price upfront gave customers a false impression and influenced their decision to continue with the booking.
Justice Judith Harvie noted that the law exists to protect consumers from unfair marketing tactics and that the airline's conduct — even if common industry practice — showed a "serious disregard" for the rights of buyers.
The court also rejected Air Canada's claim that it didn't think the law applied to it due to federal jurisdiction over airlines. The justices pointed out that the airline was made aware of the law's requirements shortly after they came into effect in 2010 and still failed to comply until 2012.
While the damages won't be distributed to individual passengers just yet, the case has been sent back to the Quebec Superior Court to determine how the payout will be handled.
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Plenty of sunny destinations feature one-way flights below $400.
Round-trip flights to many European cities are going for less than $800.