Michael Wukoschitz's blog

Following the crash of a King Air 100 in which he was injured as a passenger, James Ratt brought a claim against a number of parties including the Candadian Minister of Transport and the Government on the grounds that their implementation of the safety management systems within the regime created by the Canadian Aviation Regulations created a lax regulatory environment that contributed to the circumstances of the crash. However, the court concluded that neither party owed the passenger a duty of care.

The plaintiff's father was booked on a flight from Vienna to Istanbul, operated by the defendant. He intended to check two suitcases and keep a smaller bag as cabin luggage. Upon check-in the passenger was told that with regard to its size and weight the bag did not meet the requirements for cabin luggage. He was asked to open the bag and the airline staff at the check-in desk could see that it contained variuos documents, some jewellery, antiques and several spectacles.

In the event of cancellation of a flight, the air carrier is obliged, under Reg. 261/2004/EC, to provide care to passengers as well as to provide compensation. As regards the obligation to provide care, the air carrier must provide free of charge, in light of the waiting time, refreshments, meals and, where appropriate, hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and place of accommodation, as well as means of communication with third parties.

The claimant Guillaume Boutin filed a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency against Air Canada regarding a permanent travel ban imposed by Air Canada following an incident that occurred at the Cancun, Mexico airport just prior to Mr. Boutin’s return flight to Montréal, Quebec, Canada, on February 29, 2012.

As a result of an in-flight, Boeing 787 battery incident in Japan, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded Boeing 787 Dreamliners over safety concerns. Other regulators around the world have followed:

The plaintiffs, a married couple, took part in a package trip to Scotland organised by the defendant. At the occasion of a visit to the old blacksmith's shop at Gretna Green, a pretended wedding cermony was enacted in which the plaintiffs played the bride and the groom. The bus driver took pictures of this 'ceremony'.

The plaintiff took part in Lufthansa's frequent flyer programme "Miles & More" and had collected about 900.000 bonus miles until Lufthansa changed the terms regarding redemption of bonus miles. According to the new terms, the number of bonus miles required to receive a business class or first class upgrade had gone up 15 to 20 percent. The plaintiff regarded these changes unfair and void and therefore filed a law suit at the regional court in Colonia (LG Köln).

In a case reported earlier, the Austrian Civil Supreme Court has now deleivered the final judgment. The plaintiffs had missed their Antarctica cruise following a delayed departure of their feeder flight to Frankfurt caused by snow covered runways at the Vienna airport. They sued the carrier and the airport for damages.