Supreme Court refuses to hear case concerning rights of disabled air passengers

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada will not examine whether new air-travel rules that allow lengthy delays breach the rights of some Canadians with disabilities.

The federal regulations let airlines keep travellers on the tarmac for up to three hours — plus an extra 45 minutes if there is an “imminent” possibility a late plane will take off.

Passenger-rights advocate Gabor Lukacs and Bob Brown, a quadriplegic, asked the Federal Court of Appeal to hear their case against the Canadian Transportation Agency.

Brown, a disability-rights advocate, says the rules limit the distance he can travel as he can spend only so much time in an airline seat without experiencing severe physical pain.