01 · What happened
After a death in his family, a customer asked the chatbot on Air Canada’s website about bereavement fares. It told him he could travel first and claim the reduced rate within 90 days of the ticket being issued. The airline’s policy did not allow that. On 14 February 2024, British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal found Air Canada liable for negligent misrepresentation and ordered it to pay C$650.88 in damages, plus C$36.14 in interest and C$125 in fees.
02 · Reported cause
The tribunal did not examine why the bot answered wrongly. On record: the answer contradicted the airline’s own policy page. Air Canada argued that the correct information was elsewhere on its website, and suggested the chatbot was a separate legal entity responsible for its own actions. The tribunal called that “a remarkable submission” and held the airline responsible for all information on its website.
03 · What they changed
The sources report the tribunal’s order, not any technical change to the chatbot.
04 · Sources
- Moffatt v. Air Canada, 2024 BCCRT 149 (CanLII) · canlii.org ↗
- American Bar Association, Business Law Today · americanbar.org ↗
- Dentons Data · dentonsdata.com ↗
Facts on this page are limited to what these sources report. Checked in September 2026.