TL;DR:
AC is lying and denying APPR compensation for our 24-hour delay, claiming the “root cause” was weather. We know it was mechanical becuase the pilot said so at the time.

Looking for advice on:

1. How to get evidence to prove the real reason (records of delay codes, pilot announcements, airport ops logs, METARs, etc.).
   
2. Whether anyone has successfully obtained proof of what the pilot announced.
   
3. Whether filing with the CTA is still worthwhile, or if small claims is more effective.
   

Any guidance appreciated.

*****

Hi FTers

Looking for advice from the FT community on how to gather solid, verifiable evidence to dispute Air Canada’s claim that our 24-hour delay was “weather-related”.

Our situation:
• Our flight was broarded early, de-iced on time without incident, and other flights were taking off on time. Pilot then announces flight is cancelled due to issue with engine and taxis back to gate. We sit for almost 5 hours waiting for resolution.
• AC is now claiming the root cause of our cancellation/delay was weather.
• We know this is not true — the delay out of YOW was explicitly described the pilot as mechanical.
• Hours later they decided to fly anyway, but because of the long delay we misconnected in YVR and were pushed to a connecting flight 24 hours later, and subsequently causing us an additional change fee of $700 on a different flight we had booked with a different airline.
• AC has since denied APPR compensation, citing “weather”. Unsatisfactory response comes back to our email to customer service, basically saying, nope, we say it's weather, so it's weather, and that's that.
• We want to challenge this, but need the right factual evidence.

What I’m trying to figure out:

1. How can we obtain documented proof of the actual reason for the delay?
   For example, is there any official record of what the pilot announced when the cancellation/long delay was first communicated? Do internal delay codes or METAR data help at all? Is there any way to get AC to disclose the operational delay codes?
   
2. What sources do people use to build a case showing an airline’s stated cause is inaccurate?
   (Flight logs, airport ops records, NOTAMs, weather reports, historical delay codes, etc. - how do you get this?)
   
3. Is it even worth filing a CTA complaint anymore?
   My understanding is CTA is massively backlogged—are people still getting results? Or would we be better going straight to small claims?

At this point, the obfuscation and misrepresentation, not to mention lack of customer service to inquiries, feels like a deliberate effort on the part of Air Canada to just make claims go away without having to pay because customers just get fed up and give up trying to get what they are owed.

Appreciate any insight from members who’ve navigated this before. Not looking to rant (I've been doing plenty of verbal ranting to my travel companions, it still hasn't solved the issue, LOL) — just hoping to understand the most effective way to gather facts and challenge AC’s false version of events.