Earlier this year, Air Canada announced that it would allow cats and small dogs to ride in the passenger cabin of its aircraft.  Although WestJet has for some time allowed cats, dogs, birds and rabbits on its flights, there was a negative reaction to Air Canada’s announcement.  Specifically, there has been strong opposition by allergy and asthma sufferers about the health hazards associated with having pets in the aircraft cabin. This past fall, the Canadian Lung Association commenced a “Say No to Pets on Planes!” campaign in an effort to urge the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health to take action against the airlines.   The controversy over animals in aircraft cabins is not new.  In 2002, the Canadian Transportation Agency…
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Lukacs v. United Airlines Inc. and Skywest Airlines Inc., 2009 MBQB 29, affirmed 2009 MBCA 111. The Manitoba Court of Appeal recently confirmed principles established by American and Canadian appellate courts regarding the recovery of damages for inconvenience and mental anguish resulting from accidents during international air travel. Mr. Lukacs’ flight from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Columbus, Ohio was cancelled due to aircraft mechanical failure.  As a result, he was unable to attend a conference that was scheduled to begin the next morning.  He was offered a ticket on another flight that departed the next day, but this was unsatisfactory.  Mr. Lukacs was refunded the full price of his airline ticket and the costs associated with the use of a travel…
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Welcome to the Alexander Holburn Aviation Law Blog!  This blog has been created by the Aviation Practice Group at Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP, a full-service law firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The lawyers in our Aviation Practice Group handle legal matters of special concern to the aviation community, including litigation arising out of aircraft accidents and incidents, aviation-related product liability litigation, airline claims handling, administrative tribunal hearings, regulatory compliance issues and various other transportation-related matters. In this blog, we will cover recent developments in Canadian aviation law and discuss various other topics that we feel may be interesting and possibly useful to members of the aviation industry.  Our blog is for the sole purpose of general…
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