Brazil’s Supreme Court Halts All Lawsuits Over Flight Delays and Cancellations

Overview

• Minister Dias Toffoli ordered an immediate nationwide suspension of cases that seek compensation for delays, itinerary changes or cancellations.
• Proceedings will remain frozen until the STF rules on an extraordinary appeal by Azul that challenges a Rio ruling based on the Consumer Defense Code.
• The justices will decide whether the Consumer Defense Code or the Brazilian Aeronautics Code applies in events such as bad weather, and the outcome will bind lower courts.
• Judges must halt cases regardless of the airline involved or the stage of the lawsuit, and the STF Secretariat will notify tribunals to enforce the order.
• Toffoli cited mass and potentially predatory litigation, pointing to studies of Brazil’s outsized volume of airline suits and rising legal costs, and no date has been set for the final judgment.