Air Canada pays out for ‘interim expenses’ to Halifax crash passengers
Air Canada has paid out $5,000 for each of the 133 passengers involved in the crash landing at Halifax airport on Sunday morning.
The Airbus A320 touched down short of the runway in heavy snow.
There were no fatalities although 25 people were admitted to hospital with various injuries.
The plane’s nose, engine and wing were severely damaged in the landing after it hit an antenna on the approach.
Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said the payout was to cover "immediate and interim expenses".
"Our focus is on providing them with assistance and we will con-tinue to deal directly with these customers on any matters relating to additional claims," Fitzpatrick said.
A lawyer representing several passengers on the ill-fated flight welcomed the payout but suspected it is a strategy by the airline to head off any class-action compensation claim.
"If the strategy is merely to compensate people for out of pocket expenses, you certainly can’t say that’s nasty," said lawyer Ray Wagner.
"Providing compensation which discourages people from going for a class action is politics driven by public relations and risk management people to contain a liability," he said.
"What I’ve been telling our clients is if you cash the check, it’s fine. It’s not a release of the claim," he added.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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