Passenger is sued by airline after spending thousands on clothes while his luggage was missing
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
A passenger is being taken to court by an airline after spending over C$3,000 on items after his luggage went missing.
There's a good chance that at some point in your life you'll experience your luggage being delayed or lost.
It's extremely inconvenient, especially if your baggage is lost upon your arrival at your destination, leaving you without your items for your vacation.
This is something that happened to Alaa Tannous and his wife, Nancy, back in 2022 following a cross-country flight with Air Canada from Toronto to Vancouver.
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Upon their arrival in Vancouver, Alaa was informed that his luggage hadn't arrived and, according to him, they couldn't tell him where it could be.
"They couldn't even track the luggage, if it's in Toronto or, like, on the way," he told CBC. "I was under the impression, luggage is gone."
With this in mind, Alaa was informed that he and his wife could spend a 'reasonable amount' on necessities.
The couple proceeded to spend over C$3,000 (around $2,100 USD) on items and later filed the receipts in a bid to claim compensation from Air Canada – the airline that had misplaced their luggage.
Air Canada initially offered them $250, but they turned it down.
Alaa proceeded to take the case to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), who ordered Air Canada to pay approximately C$2,400 to them; a sum Alaa thought was 'fair'.
Fast forward to Christmas 2024, and the Tannous' were hit with court documents saying that Air Canada was suing them.
Air Canada is taking them to Federal Court in the hope of the CTA's decision being overturned.
"It was shocking," Alaa said of being served in December. "It's disappointing to see the airline, after all the money I spent with them over the years … they're appealing a $2,000 claim."
But Air Canada has since revealed more about the ordeal and insisted that the couple's case was returned to them within 24 hours and that some of the items they tried to claim for were purchased after they had their luggage again.
One item purchased by Alaa was C$1310.40 for a personally monogrammed Tumi piece of luggage, Air Canada says.
In a statement shared to LinkedIn, the airline said: "The customer’s bag was delivered less than 24 hours after their own arrival. The customer’s flight arrived in Vancouver at 11:08 am on May 25, 2022 and the bag was delivered to their hotel on May 26, 2022 at 9:15 am."
Breaking down their expenses, on May 25, they spent nearly C$570 on toiletries, nearly C$300 on lingerie and sleepwear, more than C$1,600 on clothing and underwear.
Then, on the evening of the day the airline claims that the luggage was back with Alaa and his wife, they spent C$433 on a pair of women's sneakers.
It was the following day (May 28) that they paid over C$1,000 for the monogrammed piece of luggage.
Air Canada's statement concluded: "Under current law, Air Canada cannot appeal decisions by the Canadian Transportation Agency to the agency itself and must instead appeal to the Federal Court. In this case, Air Canada has chosen to appeal to the Federal Court because it is seeking guidance on what constitutes reasonable expenses that customers can claim."
Apparently the airline is not seeking legal costs from Alaa should it win its legal challenge.
Elsewhere, the CDC reported that the passenger isn't looking to hire a lawyer in the case as he doesn't want to 'waste more money'.