Luggage challenge flies

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Gabor Lukács’ latest victory over airlines makes Air Canada liable for passengers’ luggage. (DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg man has won a victory against Air Canada for all travellers who've felt shortchanged when the airline either lost or damaged their luggage.

Gabor Lukács, an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Manitoba, won a ruling from the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) earlier this week. The CTA found Air Canada's policy that it's not responsible for delayed or damaged baggage violates international conventions and Canadian law, and must be changed within 90 days.

Lukács, 26, said he does a lot of travelling abroad and within Canada, and he found Air Canada's policy irresponsible.

"It just bothered me," he said. "I was returning from a flight last fall and I saw that sign again and I thought, 'I have to do something about it.' "

Once the new ruling is implemented, Air Canada passengers will be able to demand compensation for damaged luggage or for luggage that didn't arrive when they did.

"I see this is the greatest achievement," Lukács said of the changes Air Canada must make. "I am very glad that I was able to do something that makes a difference for all Canadians."

The sign that bothered Lukács states: "The following damage is considered to be normal wear and (Air Canada) will not accept a claim for: scratches, nicks, missing straps, zipper damage, scuffs, dents, soiling, damage resulting from over packing, damage to wheels, feet, extending handles."

"These kinds of things have happened to me in the past," Lukács said. "I pick up my luggage at the end of a trip and I find that there is some damage -- the wheels or the handles or the strap are broken. I go to the desk to complain and the employee points to the sign."

In his submission to the CTA, Lukács said Air Canada claims that baggage with straps, zippers, wheels and locks is unsuitable and so the airline cannot be held responsible if it's damaged. But he counters that these elements are found on most luggage used by passengers.

Lukács said the signs give passengers the impression they have no right to compensation. But he said that international travel conventions to which Canada is a signatory and Canadian legislation make airlines responsible for such damage, and Air Canada cannot avoid such responsibility simply by posting a sign or adopting policies.

In a ruling Wednesday, the CTA agreed with Lukács and gave Air Canada 90 days to remove or change the signs. The airline also has 45 days from the ruling to argue why it should not be required to alter its policies on the issues.

Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur said late Friday afternoon that the airline is currently reviewing the CTA ruling and is not prepared to comment at this time.

In Lukács, the airline industry has met a formidable foe. Despite his youth, the native of Hungary was a mathematics prodigy. At age 12, he was taking undergraduate courses at an Israeli university. At 16, he completed his master's degree and was admitted to the PhD program in mathematics at York University in Toronto. He successfully defended his PhD at age 20 and the paper was awarded a York University Dissertation Prize. He has taught mathematics at Bremen University in Germany and at Dalhousie in Halifax. Lukács began teaching full-time at the U of M in 2006.

This is not the first time he has fought the airline industry and walked away a winner. In 2006, he received a default judgment in small claims court in Nova Scotia against Continental Airlines for $8,000 after he missed a conference because of a cancelled flight. He eventually agreed to a $6,000 settlement.

Lukács also recently won a partial victory against Skywest Airlines in Manitoba Court of Queens Bench, but he's filed a motion for leave to appeal because he's not satisfied with the award.

Lukács said many airlines have policies that bully passengers and passengers often have little recourse. His battles were personal, but the CTA ruling will benefit all passengers, he said.

"The bad service provided by one airline is often used as an excuse by a competing airline to also offer bad service," Lukács said. He said the airline industry in Canada is allowed to run roughshod over passengers, adding he's pleased that local MP Jim Maloway is behind an airline passengers' bill of rights.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 16, 2009 A3