Hi,

We’re a family of 4 and we’re traveling from BGI to YYZ AC 967 on Dec 17th. We were delayed by > 4 hours. I fixed with A.C. for compensation for 4 of us through 1 claim and they came back with a $300 goodwill. I argued back that our flight was delayed because the flight coming into BGI was late because the replacement aircraft was late despite maintenance issues they should have a contingency plan in place for replacement aircraft and they’ve come back with the below

The primary cause, or the most significant contributing factor, determines the obligation for compensation under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations. In this situation, the most significant contributing factor was controllable but required for safety.

Air Canada airplanes are maintained in accordance with the required maintenance program but not all malfunctions, such as this one, can be foreseen or prevented through regular maintenance. The technical fault for your flight was unexpected and all reasonable measures were taken to avoid the flight disruption.

In accordance with the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, compensation does not apply under these circumstances. Unexpected airplane malfunctions may compromise safety and flight disruptions caused by unexpected aircraft malfunctions would be within a carrier’s control, but required for safety.

We hope the goodwill eCoupon provided to you earlier will encourage you to fly with us again. This is Air Canada’s final position on the compensation, and we are unable to offer further consideration.

My questions is :
1) why are they only offering me $300 and nothing for my family?
2) should I file with CTA?
3) can I trust this “safety reason” as it seems that their way of getting out of everything.

thanks