Air Canada Fined $12,000 for French Lapses

A judge says that Air Canada failed in its mandate to carry out its services in both official languages.

Air Canada was dinged $12,000 for failing to offer services en français on three flights taken by a French-language activist. A judge ruled that Michel Thibodeau's complaints about the airline breaching the Official Languages Act for flights taken in the first half of 2009 were justified. Among the indiscretions: On a flight from Toronto to Atlanta, there were no bilingual flight attendants; upon the return flight's arrival, the pilot made the weather and arrival-time announcements solely in English; and, on a Charlotte to Toronto flight in March, there was no French announcement for where to pick up luggage. Air Canada is required by law to offer all services in both official languages, “where there is significant demand for those services in the minority language.”