Flying Is A No-Rights Zone: Supreme Court Of Canada Dismisses Language Rights Claim

Article by Ranjan K. Agarwal and Faiz M. Lalani, Student-at-Law

Plaintiffs cannot bring a claim for damages for a breach of fundamental rights against an airline if that breach arose in the course of international travel. Simply put, international flying is a "no-rights zone" between embarkation and debarkation.

In Thibodeau v Air Canada, 2014 SCC 67, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified that the Montreal Convention – adopted by Parliament through the Carriage by Air Act – only allows claims against airlines for: (i) death or bodily injury, (ii) destruction, damage or loss of baggage and cargo and (iii) delay.

The case garnered significant press coverage as a dispute over a 7-Up order (French-language Crusader Pops Air Canada for $12,000). But the issue was whether the Official Languages Act, a legislation of quasi-constitutional status, could provide the Thibodeaus a remedy for Air Canada's failure to provide services in French on three separate flights