D1

By Jim Brown
The Canadian Press

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OTTAWA - Three of the country's major airlines are finally being forced - after a six-year-legal battle - to make additional seats available at no charge to disabled or obese passengers who need the extra room.

The Supreme Court of Canada cleared the way for the move Thursday, rejecting an application by Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet for permission to appeal the new policy imposed by the Canadian Transportation Agency.

The court, in keeping with tradition, gave no reason for refusing to review the case. But the effect was to uphold an agency finding that the air carriers were discriminating against the disabled.

The agency issued an order last January requiring the companies to adopt a policy of "one person, one fare."

That would mean, for example, that a disabled person who needs additional room for a wheelchair or stretcher, or an obese person who needs an additional seat, couldn't be charged extra.

It would also mean that, if a disabled person has to be accompanied by an attendant, the attendant would ride for free.

"This is going to make a huge difference for those people," said David Baker, the Toronto lawyer who fought the case on behalf of disabled passengers.

"They are going to be able to travel now. . . It's a great thing for people with disabilities, it's a great thing for Canada."

Joanne Neubauer of Victoria, one of two disabled people whose complaints sparked the case, said the news Thursday made her feel like "an equal citizen in this country."

"I'm pretty happy," said Neubauer, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and uses a motorized wheelchair. "I'm glad that they saw the wisdom, and justice prevailed."

The other original plaintiff, Eric Norman of Gander, N.L., suffered from a crippling spinal tumour that required frequent flights to Toronto for medical treatment. He has died since the legal proceedings were launched in 2002.

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities, which joined in the legal effort, rejoiced at the victory Thursday but expressed dismay that it was so long in coming.

"Where is the federal government's leadership on this issue?" said the council's Pat Danforth. She argued a quicker and easier solution would have been for Transport Canada to impose industry-wide regulations on all air carriers.

The transportation agency's order technically applies only to Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet, but their share of the domestic airline market is estimated at over 90 per cent.

Baker said the ruling suggests that complaints against other airlines would almost certainly succeed.

Like Danforth, however, he called on Ottawa to save people the bother of filing case-by-case complaints and impose regulations binding on all carriers. Debate has been raging for well over a decade on that subject under both Liberal and Conservative governments.

Air Canada and WestJet said they will comply with the transportation agency's order, which carries a deadline of Jan. 9, 2009, for implementing the new policy.

Both airlines noted, however, that the order applies only to their domestic flights, not to international ones.

WestJet spokesman Richard Bartem said his company would consider extending the policy to international flights but hasn't decided whether to do so. Peter Fitzpatrick of Air Canada said he couldn't speculate on that point.