Flair defends flight cancellation at centre of B.C. dispute, says bird strikes did occur

The tail section of a Flair Airlines plane is seen in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout: Flair Airlines

A dispute over a cancelled Flair Airlines flight from Calgary to Vancouver last year – which the airline blamed on bird strikes that were never recorded in a federal database – hasn't ended yet.

A spokesperson for Flair provided internal documentation to CTV News indicating "multiple bird strikes" did occur before the airline cancelled the Aug. 29 departure.

Flair also confirmed it will be challenging the outcome of a case in B.C.'s small claims tribunal awarding $500 in compensation each to two passengers whose travel plans were disrupted.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson said Flair is doing so "not because we are so concerned about the nominal fee, but because we are not an airline that lies to its passengers."

Airline presented no evidence at tribunal

Passengers Olivia Donner and James Broadhurst filed for damages through the Civil Resolution Tribunal after their trip to Vancouver was delayed by one day.

Under Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations, travellers can be entitled to compensation for delayed or cancelled flights – provided the disruption was caused by something within an airline's control.

According to the CRT's decision, which was posted online last week, Flair initially blamed the cancellation on adverse weather before citing bird strikes as the cause.

Donner and Broadhurt decided to do their own research, looking to the Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System – a database that tracks incidents ranging from bird strikes to medical emergences – and found no record of bird strikes on a Flair flight on Aug. 29.

In its response to the tribunal, the airline stood by that reason for the cancellation, but did not provide any evidence that bird strikes had taken place. Tribunal member Jeffrey Drozdiak drew an "adverse inference" from that lack of evidence, and ordered Flair to compensate the passengers.

Legal requirements met, airline says

A spokesperson for Flair could not explain why the airline did not provide evidence with its response to the tribunal, or confirm whether the bird strikes were reported to Transport Canada, but stressed that every legal requirement was met.

Flair said control tower staff generally notify Transport Canada about such occurrences so they can be inputted into the CADORS database.

The documentation provided to CTV News indicates Flair responded to the Aug. 29 bird strikes by performing unscheduled maintenance checks, which did not turn up any sign of serious damage.

Handwritten notes show the aircraft had to be "cleaned of bird remains" following the inspection.

Flair could not provide any further detail on why the incident resulted in a flight cancellation rather than a delay.

As for the initial response suggesting weather caused the cancellation, the airline's spokesperson said the employee responsible no longer works with the company – so Flair is "unclear why this was communicated."

Decisions in B.C.'s small claims tribunal are binding and enforceable, like court orders, but can be challenged.

Parties can make an application to the B.C. Supreme Court for a judicial review to determine whether a finding was "reasonable or correct," according to the tribunal's website.

 With files from CTV News Vancouver's Lisa Steacy