Our dedicated e-mail for this case is covid19flights@evolinklaw.com . Considering the volume of emails and inquiries, please be advised that we will not be able to answer inquiries about individual situations and questions that are answered in our Frequently Asked Questions.

This class action seeks, among other things, a Court order requiring the airlines to provide monetary refunds and to pay damages to the passengers, including punitive damages.

But excluding: (1) persons who already cancelled their own itineraries before the Government of Canada’s global travel advisory on March 13, 2020; and (2) persons who had a full refund to the original form of payment in progress prior to March 27, 2020.

Persons residing anywhere in the world who before March 11, 2020 entered into a Contract of Carriage with any of the Defendants for travel on a flight operated by a Defendant on a trip that was scheduled to commence between March 13, 2020 until the date the Government of Canada withdraws all travel advisories for COVID-19, including a further subclass of Class Members whose flights from March 13, 2020 until May 31, 2020 (or any other date to be determined by the Court) were cancelled and/or suspended by a Defendant.

The proposed class are those that have a ticket with the above airlines purchased before March 11, 2020 for travel after March 13, 2020, namely:

On March 27, 2020, a proposed class action was filed in the Federal Court alleging that Air Canada (including Air Canada Rouge), WestJet, Sunwing, Air Transat, and Swoop must provide cash refunds for flights or itineraries in relation to COVID-19, rather than issuing a future credit.

Please safely keep records of the correspondences with the airlines including any confirmation emails, credit card receipts, and any screenshots.

If the action is certified by the Federal Court to proceed as a class action, you will be automatically included as a class member. To receive updates on the progress of this lawsuit, please subscribe to our Mailing List below. Joining the mailing list does not create any financial obligation.

What about the voucher / credits the airlines have been offering or issuing?

We are aware that some airlines are purporting to offer vouchers and/or credits in lieu of refunds. We are also aware that the Canadian Transportation Agency has posted a “Statement on Vouchers” relating to whether airlines could offer vouchers and/or credits. Please note that the non-profit organization, Air Passenger Rights, has commenced a separate judicial review application to challenge the Canadian Transportation Agency’s “Statement on Vouchers”. Further information about the Air Passengers Rights’ challenge can be found on their post and court documents.

We intend to include passengers that have received vouchers / credits to continue participating in this proposed class action, as long as they fit within the criteria in question 2 below, subject to Court approval. Whether accepting or receiving the voucher / credit will ultimately affect a putative class members’ rights to the monetary refund will likely have to be determined by the Court at the trial. We intend to proceed with this case on an expedited basis, if the Court will permit. You may wish to defer any decision until there is further clarity on the timetable for this case.

For example, it is possible that the Court may find that the issuance of the voucher / credit to be an unenforceable transaction, and that the putative class member still preserving their right to the refund. If the voucher / credit remains unused, that may be a strong factor in favour of the putative class member. Similarly, we ask you to keep a detailed record of how the voucher / credit was offered to you ( see question 3 below ) as that may become useful at the trial phase.

It is similarly possible that, at the trial the Court finds that the putative class members that accepted the voucher / credit have foregone their right to the monetary refund. If the voucher / credits have been wholly or partially used, it may be a factor that affects the monetary refund.

Am I part of this class action?

This is a proposed international class action. The scope of the class is subject to approval by the Court.

The proposed class includes passengers anywhere in the world who had their tickets with Air Canada (including Air Canada Rouge), WestJet, Sunwing, Air Transat, or Swoop for air travel that was scheduled to commence on or after March 13, 2020 until the time the Government of Canada’s travel advisory is lifted. For example, if you have a round-trip flight that was scheduled to depart on March 10, 2020, you are not part of the proposed class.

For vacation packages, we intend to ask the Court to include the flight tickets portion of such packages.

For tickets purchased through an online or offline travel agent, we also intend to ask the Court to include the flight tickets

At this time, there is no action required to be part of this class action. A certification application will be made to the Court in short order.

Do I need to take any action to be part of this case now?

You do not need to contact us to sign up for this class action because we will be asking the Court to certify this action on an “opt-out” basis. If and when the Court certifies the class action, you will receive a notification on what you need to do if you want to be excluded.

Please keep records of any and all correspondences you had with the airline or the respective travel agent, including confirmation or notification emails, replacement tickets, receipts for additional expenditure, credit card statements, credit card authorizations, etc. This information may be necessary after the certification of this class action. Please do not send us those materials at this time.

Phone calls, if you plan to have phone calls with the airline and/or travel agent, we encourage you to record the phone call for your own records. Information on recording phone calls can be found here https://airpassengerrights.ca/en/blog/recording-phone-calls-in-canada.

Are any other airlines included in this proposed class action?

At this time the proposed class action only includes Air Canada (including Air Canada rouge), WestJet, Swoop, Sunwing, and Air Transat.

We are aware that other foreign and domestic airlines have also refused to refund passengers. If any other airlines are to be added to this proposed class action, we will post an update on our website. You do not need to contact us to request to add new airlines. Whether other airlines will be added or not depends on a number of factors including the best interest of the members of the proposed class. Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide further details due to reasons of confidentiality and privilege.

Can I still commence an individual action (e.g. Small Claims case)?

This class action does not preclude you from pursing the matter individually in court. However, as part of the class action procedure, the Court may stay or suspend any individual actions or similar actions that are pending in order to conserve judicial resources and avoid both a multiplicity of proceedings and contradictory outcomes.

Evolink Law Group cannot advise you in an individual action. Please consult your lawyer if you plan to proceed individually.

Will class members be liable for the defendants' legal fees if this class action does not succeed?

Class members are not liable for the defendant's legal fees if this class action is not certified or if we do not succeed at the common trial.

When will I hear further information about this class action?

We will notify those that have signed up to our Mailing List on the next steps and when they expect a notice from the Court.

What are we asking for in this class action against the named airlines?

This class action is seeking to recover cash refunds for each passenger, plus damages.