Flair Airlines sued after delay spoiled Canadian passenger's crab meat

Flair Airlines was forced to pay a passenger in a baggage delay case that involved crab meat.

Yes, crab meat.

The case wasn't limited to crab meat; it included fish cakes, sea cucumbers, and dandelion root.

Brian Vu sued Flair Airlines for $594.45, which included the baggage fee and the cost of the spoiled items.

Vu was flying from B.C. to Ontario on November 6, 2022. He paid $72.45 to check his bags, but one of his two checked bags didn't make it to his destination. The missing bag wasn't delivered until November 10, 2022.

That missing bag included the seafood items mentioned. Vu claimed that those items were spoiled.

He estimated that the crab was worth $250, the fish cakes were worth $120, the sea cucumbers were worth $80, and the dandelion root was worth $72. Because Flair never contested those numbers, the tribunal accepted them.

Flair suggests that Vu wasn't entitled to compensation because he checked perishable items against Flair's policy, but the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal decision had some thoughts on that.

Flair's defence was that the items weren't declared, and it provided a screenshot of its website stating that perishable items must not be included in checked bags.

The tribunal referenced the applicable law for this portion of the case.

According to the Canadian Transportation Agency, if an airline accepts checked baggage, it assumes liability "even if the airline has not agreed to transport certain items."

Therefore, the tribunal deemed that Flair Airlines owed Vu for his spoiled crab meat and other items that had gone bad.