Angry at airlines' service, Gábor Lukács has batttled carriers in Canadian courts and won on behalf of fliers.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia—In 2005, Gábor Lukács complained to Continental Airlines about a 26-hour delay on a flight to Mexico.
When the carrier didn't respond, he took it to small-claims court, eventually settling for 6,000 Canadian dollars ($5,730).
The victory was the first in a series of legal fights that Mr. Lukács has picked with some of North America's biggest carriers. Working from a bungalow here, he has won cases that forced airlines to compensate Canadian fliers for delays, lost luggage and overbooked flights.
In the process, the 30-year-old unemployed university math professor has become a sort of cult hero for consumer-rights advocates.
"He has achieved more on [passenger rights] than we have in years," said Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers' Association of Canada advocacy group.
Fliers' rights are a hot issue on both sides of the Atlantic these days. The U.S. government in recent years has forced airlines to compensate travelers for long delays and lost bags. The European Union is now reviewing its decade-old regulation obliging carrier to compensate passengers who get bumped or face extended delays. Carriers say these rules go too far because they don't reflect complexities of running an airline, while consumer advocates say the laws don't go far enough.
Canada recently considered similar legislation but left carriers to set their own compensation levels. Mr. Lukács instead turned to courts and regulators.
In June, Air Canada, the country's largest carrier, offered to increase eightfold the maximum cash compensation for passengers bumped from overbooked domestic flights, to C$800. The move followed a complaint Mr. Lukács filed with the Canadian Transportation Agency, the country's top airline watchdog.
The agency also ruled that WestJet Airlines Ltd. must start compensating passengers bumped from many flights to and from Canada, following a separate complaint by Mr. Lukács.
The CTA in 2010 forced WestJet to raise its damaged-baggage liability limit on domestic flights to about C$1,800, from C$250, following a complaint from Mr. Lukács. His filing noted that the carrier's maximum compensation at the time wouldn't buy two WestJet-branded suitcases that the airline itself was advertising.
The ad "was a particularly nice feature" of his complaint, Mr. Lukács boasted.
Canada's airfares are among the highest in North America. On some cross-border flights, Canadian carriers charge as much as 60% more than foreign rivals, according to recent research by University of Toronto economics professor Ambarish Chandra. He and other analysts say that is due to limited competition among carriers in Canada, a vast country with few people.
Mr. Lukács, who began his efforts while traveling to academic conferences, targets bad service more than high fares. The airlines, he said, "push the envelope as far as they can" in cutting service.
Canada's leading airlines and its industry trade group, the National Airlines Council of Canada, declined to comment about Mr. Lukács. The NACC said its member airlines carry more than 50 million passengers annually and "the vast majority…are satisfied with our services."
Mr. Lukács said he self-finances his court battles. But filing a complaint is "a zero-cost thing," he said. "I type it up and send it by email."
In court, Mr. Lukács is polite and sometimes "meek," said Stuart Blake, a lawyer at Winnipeg, Manitoba, firm Fillmore Riley LLP, who opposed him.
Mr. Lukács's demeanor outside the courtroom is more aggressive and confrontational, opponents say. One tactic he employs is recording phone conversations with unsuspecting airline representatives. The move is legal in Canada but controversial. "He's a formidable opponent," Mr. Blake said.
Donn Fraser, a Nova Scotia-based lawyer who won a 2006 court battle against Mr. Lukács, said he couldn't remember the hearing's specifics, but recalls Mr. Lukács.
"He was very passionate about what he was doing," said Mr. Fraser.
Mr. Lukács has faced setbacks and critics say some of his legal fights overreach.
In 2008, he sued United Airlines after it canceled a flight he was taking to attend a lecture in Ohio. He sought the C$80 it cost him to get to the airport, plus C$6,000 for "inconvenience and mental anguish" and "loss of academic research," according to his complaint.
During the proceedings, he played a recorded conversation with a United agent and forced her to recant a contention that Mr. Lukács shouted at her. He won the C$80 but lost the bigger case.
