Air Canada has become the latest North American airline to refuse to accept liability for a flight attendant ruining a passenger’s laptop after they accidentally dumped a drink on the computer while serving the victim’s seatmate.
Although the flight attendant wrote a report about the incident and encouraged the passenger to submit a claim for the damage on Air Canada’s website, the Montreal-based carrier kept delaying a response for nearly a year.
After multiple attempts to chase the airline up, Air Canada eventually replied to the passenger’s claim, but the answer probably wasn’t what the customer hoped for.
“While we do sympathize with your situation, we are unfortunately unable to consider your claim,” the email reply explained. “All air travel is governed by Tariff regulations and these regulations preclude liability for cabin baggage or other items that are considered in the passenger’s own care and control.”
Interestingly, Air Canada’s current tariff regulations suggest that it very much should accept liability if the damage was the result of its own negligence.
The airline, however, insists that it won’t accept liability for damage caused to electronic equipment such as laptop computers, as well as jewelry, artworks, business documents, and other valuables, no matter the circumstances of how they came to be damaged.
“With regret, we are unable to offer any compensation for such small claims,” the email continued.
The response from Air Canada comes just days after a JetBlue passenger shared his experience when a flight attendant accidentally dropped a cup of iced coffee all over him and his laptop.
At the time, the flight attendant apologized and offered him a $25 voucher and a free cheese plate as a way of apology, but when the passenger got home, he realized that the damage was far more serious than he first thought.
With his laptop no longer working, the passenger reached out to JetBlue to seek compensation but was surprised to learn that the airline would refuse to accept liability for the damage and that no further compensation would be forthcoming.
In the latest case, some commentators have suggested that Canada’s small claims courts could come to the rescue, although there is no guarantee that a judge would rule in favor of the passenger.
Ultimately, passengers need to ensure they have some form of insurance policy to cover this type of accidental damage – whether it be through a credit card, travel insurance, or device-specific insurance like Apple Care.
Unfortunately, even the best insurance policy is probably going to require an excess to be paid, leaving passengers out of pocket for damage that wasn’t of their own doing.
Considering how often any insurance you buy to cover for this stuff is like pulling teeth to actually cover what you thought you insured, I’m surprised there’s not a market for insurance that covers you when your “insurance” finds a reason not to pay out. And so forth and so on… lol
(which is why 90% of the time I pass on any insurance offers)
Air Canada is awful. They refused to refund me for a ticket from Washington D.D. to Tokyo even though it was delayed for 36 hours and their policy is to refund customers with significant delays. They claimed a 36-hour delay for a one-week trip was “not significant.” I then pointed to TSA/FAA/NTSB rules and they claimed that they were not applicable because Air Canada is not an American company. Which is incorrect because they have to comply with U.S. federal law for flights into and outside of the U.S.
They eventually refunded me after a settlement with the Canadian government that conditioned a bail out on refunding customers under some circumstances.
In sum, they are a terrible company.
It’s complete madness to blame laptop owner claiming that he should cover or even not using his device in a plane. It’s calling victim blaming same as you blame a girl for her walk on the street wearing a little less than full closed burka if somebody rapes her.
If a flight attendant can’t afford a safe serving, the company should use closed containers to serve the drinks and anyway in such accident the company must pay full damages and even full price of brand new laptop with comparable configuration and quality without any discussion of the first claim ASAP!
I’d be curious if you would have a private right of action against the flight attendant…and then let the union complain to the company about not covering it
Is it any wonder airlines are held in low regard? The airline should be liable for accidentally (or even deliberately) damaging someone’s personal property.
That said, it falls to us to be smarter than them, and either get a water proof case for your laptop, or just use a larger tablet or phone, both of which are typically for more liquid resistant than a laptop.
Travel Insurance would have covered this. Too bad many people are too cheap to purchase this type of coverage.
In case of jet blue customer should do a a complain with BBB desk,I found that help a lot! In air canada I don’t know if Canada have a consumer protection desk? Is not acceptable for the airline not cover such incidents when they even recognize it was their faul!
Customer should sue them .
When the stewardess dropped a heavy box of something onto my Balls it was quite the anguishing moment. First of all I couldn’t breathe…I screamed yet that’s natural. They are so stupid they don’t even know WTF Gonads are. When I was able to say anything I said ..MY GONADS!!!!.. They just r uneducated or dimwitted or both I guess. They had no Idea what was wrong with me. They wanted to pass me a cheese plate also ..which I accepted in the dark before takeoff. On the runway . apparently this pretty stewardess was moving a big heavy box of soap.
Can’t wait to see someone go to California Small Claims Court on something like this. One of the few states in the US that takes small claims seriously. A lot of summary judgements against large companies because they don’t show up and lose on appeal.
I never understood the ridiculous drink cart clogging up the isle on a two hour flight. It’s like a bunch of children requiring snack time for their stupid ginger ale and cookies. Just pass out some pretzels and an aluminum water bottle and call it a day. The fat toddler brained passengers will live another hour without their midday coffee with extra cream and sugar.
Take some responsibility. You want a beverage or in the way of one, cover your stuff. It’s an airplane. In the air. Good grief!
I completely agree! Any person who has ever flown on an airline KNOWS that flights ARE bumpy. This is not the airline’s fault and not the stewardess’s fault. It is a natural consequence of traveling in a winged metal tube jetting through Earth’s turbulent upper atmosphere. Even basic computer-use protocol dictates that one should not eat or drink when using a computer. The passenger should have had the sense to close the laptop and protect it from damage.
How important is it for you to have your laptop out? IMO, unless someone is dying, keep your personally belongings put away relax and enjoy the flight
Many of us travel for business and have to work on the plane.
Some aircraft do not have an in flight entertainment system and so people watch TV shows or movies on their laptop (or tablet or phone). Other people are traveling for work and need to edit documents and send emails etc while in transit. If a flight attendant was serving drinks in my row I would simply close my laptop so any drink spill is on the lid.
Bad mouth then all over social media and they’ll change their minds.
Maybe as a precaution, because accidents can occur especially on an airplane where there is turbulence, people should kep their laptops stowed during beverage service. Also odd iced coffee was spilled on a JetBlue flight as they don’t serve iced coffee and regular coffee is served with a lid.
I don’t know. You are in a metal tube traveling hundreds of miles per hour through the air, crammed shoulder to shoulder with strangers, and subject to turbulence while open containers of liquid are being served on tiny trays. Maybe be more careful with delicate electronic equipment in such an environment?
If beverages or meals are being served, it would be a good idea to put away your laptop for that period. Turbulence or a clumsy flight attendant could cause you a great deal of unwanted grief.