Air Canada fined for not using French language

Air Canada has been ordered to pay a French-speaking couple, Michel and Lynda Thibodeau, $21,000 Canadian dollars ($15,700 US) and write them a letter of apology for violating their linguistic rights. The couple complained that some signs on a domestic flight they took were only in English, while others gave the French version less prominence.

A judge ruled that the airline had breached Canada's bilingualism laws. Air Canada is subject to the country's Official Languages Act, which seeks to ensure that English and French are given equal status. They argued that the word "lift" was engraved on the buckles of their seatbelts in English but not in French, while French translations of words such as "exit" were in smaller characters. They also said the English-language boarding announcement for their Montreal-bound flight was more thorough than the French version.

The airline had argued that the couple was interpreting the act too strictly, according to the court documents.

Michel and Lynda Thibodeau filed 22 complaints against the airline in 2016. In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that they could not sue Air Canada over a mistaken drink order on an international flight and would have to settle for an apology.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49532427