Airline will give £500 to travellers delayed after two pilots arrested
AIRLINE chiefs are to pay £500 compensation to each of the 250 passengers booked on a flight that was cancelled when the two pilots were arrested for allegedly trying to fly while drunk.
The president of Canadian airline Air Transat has announced that all those due to fly on the plane from Glasgow to Toronto on Monday will be compensated for the scrapped journey.
The announcement comes after Air Transat faced outrage on social media for originally offering passengers whose journeys were delayed by a day just £115 off any future flights they booked with the airline.
EU rules state a passenger is entitled to up to €600, around £500, in the event a flight longer than 3,500km is cancelled or delayed for more than two hours. Airline chief Jean-Francois Lemay said: “We will be compensating all passengers on this flight pursuant to the applicable European regulations.”
The airline also confirmed the two pilots – Jean-Francois Perreault and Imran Zafar Syed – had been suspended at least until an internal investigation had been concluded.
The statement said: “The issue of the July 18 arrest of two Air Transat pilots in Glasgow is a complex one, and because the matter is the subject of judicial proceedings in Scotland, the airline will not comment at this point.
“Both pilots, who are personally facing charges, have received an administrative suspension for the duration of the carrier’s internal investigation.
“Air Transat reiterates that the safety of its passengers and crew is the number one priority for the carrier.”
Mr Perreault, 39, and Mr Syed, 37, both from Ontario, were arrested by police on suspicion of being “impaired through alcohol” shortly before the Airbus A310 plane with around 250 passengers was due to take off from Glasgow Airport.
Both were charged under the Railway and Transport Safety Act which covers alcohol and drugs in aviation. They also face a further charge of using threatening and abusive behaviour.
The pair appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court on Tuesday where they made no pleas.