Canadian and international airlines are getting their day in court this week as they attempt to overturn rules governing compensation for passengers subjected to delayed flights and damaged luggage.

Under current federal rules, passengers must be compensated up to $2,400 if they are denied boarding because a flight was overbooked and receive up to $2,100 for lost or damaged luggage. Payments for delayed or cancelled flights range up to $1,000.

According to the 16 appellants that include IATA, Air Canada and Porter Airlines, the payments required under the country’s three-year-old passenger rights charter violate international standards and exceed the authority of the Canadian Transportation Agency.

They also allege that provisions of the passenger rights charter violate the 1999 Montreal Convention that attempted to establish uniform rules on the international carriage of passengers and baggage. The airlines argue that compensation amounts are based solely on the length of delays and “irrespective of the actual damage suffered.”

Passenger rights to compensation became a major issue following a 2017 incident where two Montreal-bound Air Transat jets were diverted to Ottawa in bad weather and held on the tarmac for up to six hours. Mass flight cancellations due to the pandemic once again brought the issue of compensation to the forefront.

In 2020, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed an attempt by airlines to freeze the country’s new passenger bill of rights until an appeal of the regulations was heard.

The hearings began yesterday and are slated to wrap up today.