If you are a passenger and have not yet claimed your compensation you cannot write directly to Air Canada.
You must submit a claim through their website https://www.aircanada.com/us/en/aco/home/fly/customer-support.html
When you put in the departure airport use TLV as it does not accept Tel Aviv.
Initially, the responses to passengers letters from Air Canada were totally unacceptable!
However, Air Canada have now accepted their liability and have agreed to pay passengers who were delayed on Flight 85 who claim NIS 3,080.
I received the following response within 2 days from Air Canada after putting in a claim through their website.
Your case number is: CAS XXXXXXXXXXXX
Dear Mr. Bernhard Kirschner,
Thank you for your email. We sincerely apologize for the disruption to your flight from Tel Aviv to Toronto. We know that customers want to get to where they are going and it is easy to understand this was a disappointing experience.
In this instance, you are entitled to the Right to Compensation as outlined in the Aviation Service Law for the State of Israel. Specifically, you shall receive ILS3000 based on the length of the flight delay.
The compensation shall be paid by electronic transfer. For efficient processing, please provide the following banking details for each passenger:
Address and banking details requested.
Please note the goodwill discount promo code provided previously has been cancelled.
We look forward to concluding this matter shortly and hope we may have the pleasure of serving you again soon.
Sincerely,
Harmony North
Customer Relations
Air Canada
This payment is for the time delay, but there is no additional compensation being offered for the choatic way we passengers were handled after deplaning. There were suggestions that we pursue legal action in the Israeli courts to claim damages and we find a legal firm in Israel who will act on a contingency arrangement.
However it appears that most passengers are satisfied with the NIS 3080 legally liable compensation.
So unless there is sufficient interest there will be no court claim.
What happened
Flight 85 from Tel Aviv to Canada was canceled due to a failed hydraulic pump in one engine. Air Canada had to wait for replace parts from Canada, which arrived on the next morning's plane. This plane was then used for the previous day's passengers, namely us, while the Sunday passengers were notified that their flight was delayed to 3:00 pm when they would come to Toronto in our repaired plane.
It would be interesting to learn if anyone knows if this plane left on time. Those passengers would also have a claim under Israeli Law.
Under Israeli law, http://www.tourism-law.co.il/pdf/AviationServicesLawENG.pdf passengers are entitled to compensation for canceled flights of up to NIS $3,000, except where the flight has been canceled due to special circumstances which were not under its (the airline's) control.The airline has accepted liability for this delay.
However, what was under Air Canada's control was the chaotic handling of its passengers while they organized accommodation and transport to that accommodation. Most passengers were kept waiting standing without seating and communication in 41 degrees (Celsius) temperatures in a noisy bus pickup zone for up to 3 hours. Water was eventually supplied about 2 hours after standing around and over 3 hours after deplaning, which delay was probably fortuitous because there were no nearby toilet facilities.
Most passengers had nothing to eat from early morning till they got to their hotels in the evening.
One would hope that plans existed to house passengers deplaned due to a canceled flight while arrangements were made for them, such as a cafeteria where they could sit comfortably.
Many elderly and unwell passengers such as those with diabetes suffered.
Airlines, please note this suggestion. Cancelled flights are not so uncommon that airlines should not have prepared contingency plans.
The airport staff themselves were good, trying their best.
However, the delay in getting buses seemed to be incredible. It seemed that the same bus was making round trips of one hour each to and from Tel Aviv. There were plenty of mini buses and taxis around that could have been used to shuttle passengers to accommodation.
As to why it seemed to take so long to find accommodation, haven't Air Canada heard of expedia.com or booking.com? It looked like Air Canada were negotiating for better rates while the passengers stood in the roadway.
Other links about compensation for cancelled flights.
See https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/holiday-cancellations-and-compensation/if-your-flights-delayed-or-cancelled/ which gives useful information on European cancellations, but the principles are the same for Israeli flights.I have received several emails from passengers describing their experiences.
Just follow the link at the top of this page.
I have published these mostly unedited in this website, removing names and just using an initial, unless you request that your comments include your name.
I will also have more accurate timings as I get information from other passengers. Any photos of the group outside waiting for the bus etc will be useful.
Any claims for damages for the disorganized way the passengers were treated will only be resolved by publicity and if unsuccessful by legal action.Please in all communication with Air Canada refer them to this website.
Please come back to this site for current info.
This website www.cancelledflight85.com has been set-up to enable passengers from the flight to keep in touch and ensure that fair and reasonable compensation is available to all the passengers.
The email to contact is info@cancelledflight85.com
Website conceived by Bernhard Kirschner.