HALIFAX — A Halifax man is in Federal Court to argue that his complaint against the way one airline treats obese travellers should not be dismissed because he himself is not obese.

The Canadian Transportation Agency dismissed Gabor Lukacs’ complaint in November 2014 about Delta’s “discriminatory” practice of bumping large passengers from its flights and forcing them to buy two seats.

The quasi-judicial regulator found that Lukacs had no private or public standing in the matter.

Lukacs argued before a three-member panel in Halifax Monday that to dismiss his complaint because it didn’t affect him directly is akin to disregarding someone’s concerns over contaminated food just because they weren’t made sick by it.

He says that he has filed more than two dozen successful complaints with the agency and, as a result, has brought about improvements of the industry.

He says the 46 mentions of his name in agency decisions show that he has a “long-standing, real and continuing interest in the rights of air passengers.”

“The airline is discriminating based on size,” he said in court. “It could be eye colour.”