New York – Morocco’s national airline Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has been sentenced a US $4,000 fine by a court in Canada for “abandonment” of its passengers.
A ruling last month charged RAM and ordered it to pay $4,000 in compensation to a family of passengers after a flight that was scheduled to take them to Canada was delayed for almost 24 hours, according to Canadian news website TVA Nouvelles.
Judge Jean Faullmen of the Division of Small Claims of the Court of Québec sentenced the Moroccan airline over the case dating back to August 15, 2014.
According to the same source, RAM passengers Amine Dooab, Annie Martin and their two children aged two years and eight months, respectively, arrived at the Casablanca airport at 11:00 a.m. on August 15, for their flight scheduled to depart at 3:00 p.m.
The court’s judgement revealed that Dooab, Martin and their family, along with “several hundred passengers” were told the flight had been delayed due to mechanical problems.
However, Royal Air Maroc failed to provide any further updates on the status of departure, leaving passengers “abandoned” and uninformed.
“Throughout this period, the defendant [Royal Air Morocco] provided no support to the plaintiffs and to the other passengers waiting for a flight back home,” the judgement read.
“The un-contradicted evidence demonstrates the impossibility for the plaintiffs to find any food throughout the evening and night, since airport businesses are closed at that time. The defendant supplied no drink and no food to customers at the airport,” it added.
Passengers “were then confined to the airport” for nearly 24 hours, until RAM flight finally departed on August 16 at 1:30 p.m., the same source noted.
According to the same source, although RAM sent a letter of apology and offered the family $750 for their inconvenience, Dooab and Martin sued the airline for “abandonment” and $9,930 in damages.
At the hearing, RAM representatives argued that their internal regulations say schedules are “approximate and are not guaranteed.”
Judge Faullmen sentenced the Moroccan airline and said the plaintiffs (family) were entitled to a $4,000 compensation.
“[Plaintiffs] were placed in an uncomfortable position for a period of nearly 24 hours. They were left to themselves, with two children under three years, without resources to house and feed them properly and without accurate information,” Judge Faullmen wrote.
“It appears that the defendant should pay particular attention to this family when assessing the needs of its customers. It appears that this was not the case,” he added.
