Toronto man wins disability accommodation fight against Air Canada
CBC
Seven years after Tim Rose was denied access to an Air Canada flight because of the size of his power wheelchair, the Canadian Transportation Agency ruled the country's largest airline needs to do more to accommodate passengers with mobility devices.
Rose, who lives in Toronto, was planning a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, in 2016 to give a presentation on disability awareness and big business. When he tried to book his flight over the phone, Air Canada said his wheelchair — a device custom designed for his body that provides him with his independence — was like a piece of oversized luggage: if it didn't fit, it didn't fit. As a result, he had to drive.
With the help of ARCH Disability Law Centre, Rose took the case to the transportation agency, a quasi-judicial tribunal that makes decisions related to federally-regulated transportation.
The tribunal ruled that if Air Canada receives at least 21 days notice that someone's wheelchair won't fit on a plane, the airline must find a way to transport the passenger and their wheelchair on the day they wish to travel. If that's not "reasonably possible," the Aug. 11 decision says the airline must accommodate them the day before or after.
"I was floored," Rose said of receiving the ruling after years of litigation.
During the hearing, Air Canada argued that Rose was the only person who had been refused transport because a plane travelling across the border couldn't fit their wheelchair.
Rose was most pleased to see the agency recognize that what happened to him wasn't an isolated problem.
In its decision, agency members Elizabeth C. Barker, Heather Smith and Mary Tobin Oates wrote that Air Canada has effectively created inaccessible routes as a result of its equipment purchases and planning decisions.
"That is incredibly powerful," Rose said.
As a result of the ruling, the airline will have to find passengers with wheelchairs that don't fit on select airplanes a similar flight in its own network or with another carrier that can accommodate. If Air Canada books passengers on another carrier, it will need to pay the price difference.
If those options won't work, Air Canada will need to change the airplane it intends to use for the flight, swapping it with one that can accommodate the wheelchair.
The airline has been ordered to implement the measures no later than Dec. 20.
A spokesperson for Air Canada said the airline is reviewing the judgment.
"This includes evaluating its extremely complex requirements that we substitute aircraft on an ad hoc basis and what effects this would have on other customers and our regular schedule and operations," Peter Fitzpatrick said via email.