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Tribunal finds Air Canada liable for chatbot’s wrong bereavement-fare advice
In November 2022, after his grandmother’s death, Jake Moffatt used a chatbot on Air Canada’s website while arranging travel. The chatbot stated that Air Canada offered reduced bereavement fares and that a passenger who needed to travel immediately or had already travelled could submit a ticket for a reduced bereavement rate within 90 days of ticket issuance via a refund application form. A hyperlink in that chat led to a static “Bereavement travel” webpage that, Air Canada showed, said the be...
The airline’s own static policy page stated the bereavement rule correctly, but the interactive chatbot contradicted it; the constraint on the website was not enforced in the automated channel customers actually used, and the tribunal held the company responsible for that channel.
In November 2022, after his grandmother’s death, Jake Moffatt used a chatbot on Air Canada’s website while arranging travel. The chatbot stated that Air Canada offered reduced bereavement fares and that a passenger who needed to travel immediately or had already travelled could submit a ticket for a reduced bereavement rate within 90 days of ticket issuance via a refund application form. A hyperlink in that chat led to a static “Bereavement travel” webpage that, Air Canada showed, said the bereavement policy did not apply to requests after travel was completed. (decision)
Relying on the chatbot, Moffatt booked full-fare flights (Vancouver–Toronto and return) and later applied for the bereavement reduction within the 90-day window the bot had described. Air Canada refused. In February 2023 an Air Canada representative acknowledged that the chatbot had provided “misleading words” and said the issue had been noted so the chatbot could be updated. (decision)
Before the British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal, Air Canada argued it should not be held liable for information from the chatbot — in the tribunal’s characterization, treating the chatbot as if it were a separate legal entity responsible for its own actions. Tribunal Member Christopher C. Rivers rejected that argument, finding the chatbot was part of Air Canada’s website and that the airline owed a duty of care to take reasonable care that its representations were accurate. On 14 February 2024, in Moffatt v. Air Canada, 2024 BCCRT 149, the tribunal found negligent misrepresentation and ordered Air Canada to pay Moffatt a total of C$812.02 within 14 days (C$650.88 damages, C$36.14 pre-judgment interest, and C$125 in CRT fees). (decision)
This is a small-claims CRT decision on a single consumer dispute, not an appellate ruling on AI liability generally.