Send this page to someone via email

A Halifax man who has been a thorn in the side of the airline industry is due in court today to challenge a decision over the way one carrier treats obese travellers.

Gabor Lukacs is in Federal Court to fight a decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency to dismiss a claim he had against Delta Air Lines.

The agency found in November 2014 that Lukacs didn’t have standing after he complained about Delta’s “discriminatory” practice of bumping large passengers from its flights and forcing them to buy two seats.

The quasi-judicial regulator found that Lukacs had no private or public standing in the matter.

But Lukacs argued that he has filed more than two dozen successful complaints with the agency and, as a result, has brought about improvements of the industry.

Story continues below advertisement

He says the 46 mentions of his name in agency decisions show that he has a “long-standing, real and continuing interest in the rights of air passengers.”

Watch below: Nearly two decades after a Calgary lawyer began her fight for obese airline passengers, the issue is again front and centre. Linda Mckay-Panos is flying to the Caribbean this week, but because it’s an international flight, WestJet doesn’t have to abide by Canada’s one-person one-fare policy. Global’s Kim Smith reports.

1:39 Fight continues for obese airline passengers Fight continues for obese airline passengers