BCAA Travel Blog

Fly the Friendly Skies. Well, not always. A New York City man is suing JetBlue Airways for more than $2 million because a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours. Gokhan Mutlu stated in court papers that the pilot told him to “go ‘hang out’ in the bathroom” about 90 minutes into the San Diego to New York flight because the flight attendant complained that the “jump seat” she was assigned was uncomfortable. Mutlu was travelling on a “buddy pass,” a standby travel voucher that JetBlue employees give to friends. When he balked at sitting in the washroom, the pilot told him that “that this was his plane, under his command and that Mutlu should be grateful for being on board.”According to the lawsuit, at one point the aircraft experienced turbulence and Mutlu sat on the toilet seat without a seat belt, causing him “tremendous fear.” Some time later, a flight attendant told Mutlu he could return to his original seat. Mutlu’s claims JetBlue negligently endangered him by not providing him with a seat with a safety belt or harness in violation of federal regulations.

At least he had some leg room.

Mutlu’s multi-million dollar lawsuit is just the latest in a recent spate of legal actions launched by cantankerous passengers against airlines. Some may be legitimate, but others are pretty ridiculous. Check out these examples and see what you think.

What’s the Buzz? A woman filed a lawsuit against Delta Air Lines for public humiliation after a security agent approached her on the plane before takeoff and informed her that something in her checked bag was vibrating. Renee Koutsouradis was then escorted off the plane in full sight of onlookers to identify the suspect device. She told the agent it was probably a sex toy that she had bought on her trip. The agent instructed her to hold the device up and turn it on. When she did, the agent and three male Delta employees nearby “began laughing hysterically” and offered “obnoxious and sexually harassing comments.” Koutsouradis sued Delta for compensatory and punitive damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Although she got the names of 10 witnesses for her case, the court ruled in favour of Delta, explaining that the testimony from the airline’s employees contradicted the lawsuit’s allegations.

Nutty Terror: A Long Island opthamologist has sued American Airlines for serving peanuts on her flight, thus engandering her allergic four-year old son. Tehmina Haque says she was assured several times that peanuts would not be served, but flight attendants changed the plan without notice during her trip from New York to Los Angeles. Her lawsuit claims: “For the entire flight the plaintiff remained fearful, tense and anxious as she watched over her son’s every breath and body twitch, concerned that at any moment her son could have an anaphylactic reaction while imprisoned 35,000 feet into the air.” The airline’s peanut allergy policy reads: “American recognizes that some passengers are allergic to peanuts. Although we do not serve peanuts, we do serve other nut products and there may be trace elements of unspecified peanut ingredients, including peanut oils, in meal and snacks. We make no provisions to be peanut-free.”

No Wiggle Room: Philip Shafer, an attorney from Ashland, Ohio, filed a lawsuit against Delta Air Lines claiming that he suffered “embarrassment, severe discomfort, mental anguish and severe emotional distress” on a flight from New Orleans to Cincinnati by having to sit next to a passenger so overweight that they were “figuratively married from the right kneecap to the shoulder.” Shafer sued Delta for what he said was a breach of its contract. That is, he didn’t get what he paid for–a full seat. The matter was later settled out of court, but Shafer insisted the issue was never money. Instead, it was about forcing airlines to establish policies that recognize the rights of standard-size passengers.

Racist Rhyming: Southwest Airlines is known for its humorous announcements and antics, but flight attendant Jennifer Cundiff ran into trouble when she made the following announcement to get everyone seated before departure from Las Vegas: “Eenie, meenie, minie, moe. Pick a seat, ’cause it’s time to go.” At the time, there were only two women still standing, a pair of African-American sisters, and they took offense to the nursery rhyme, which once had very different wording. They sued Southwest, alleging that they were victims of racial discrimination and had suffered physical and emotional distress as a result of the rhyme. A jury cleared the airline of any discrimination. Fuller criticized the verdict, insisting that the all-white jury had conspired against her and her sister.

Expensive Hangover: On a United Airlines flight from Buenos Aires to New York, inebriated investment banker Gerard Finneran went totally bonkers. First he demanded more alcohol from the flight attendants and when they refused, he began helping himself to the liquor supply. After being cut off a second time, he became irate. He pushed one flight attendant, verbally threatened another, then walked up to the first-class cabin, dropped his pants and defecated on a food cart in plain view of the passengers and crew. Then he smeared the walls with his feces. Finneran was arrested upon landing. The airline sued, demanding that he refund every passenger’s first-class ticket. Finneran countersued, saying it was the airline’s fault for serving him too much alcohol. His suit was dismissed and he eventually pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to two years probation. In addition, he was given 300 hours of community service and a $5,000 fine and was ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution to the airline, and to reimburse fellow passengers for the price of their tickets, which worked out to about $100,000.

Trapped on the Tarmac: An Arkansas woman stranded for more than 13 hours on an American Airlines flight in December 2006, has taken legal action against the airline. Catherine Ray’s lawsuit charges, among other things, false imprisonment, negligence and breach of contract. Flight 1008 had departed Oakland on time and was scheduled to arrive in Dallas at 11:30 a.m., but American diverted the flight to Austin, where passengers were held on the plane for more than 13 hours. American claimed that stormy weather over Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport delayed the flight, but the lawsuit insists that flights were delayed for fewer than three hours by bad weather. Ray says the plane became filthy and intolerable from human excrement, body odour, lack of water for sanitation, and the lack of adequate food or hydrating drinks. The suit accuses American of having a corporate policy of confining and imprisoning passengers on aircraft of excessively delayed or cancelled flights to prevent “passenger migration.”

A Sticky Situation: A 21-year-old Texas woman has filed a $200,000 lawsuit against American Airlines, claiming that employees on a flight to Los Angeles failed to protect her from another passenger who masturbated to her and ejaculated in her hair. Destined for a Spring Break visit with family and friends on March 19, 2008, Centava Dozier flew from Houston had settled into her seat for the last leg of flight 2074 to Los Angeles about 11 p.m. She slept most of the flight, but awoke about 20 minutes before landing when the pilot announced the plane was on its descent. When Dozier opened her eyes, she saw that a stranger had moved into the seat next to her and was staring at her while he masturbated. Dozier turned toward the window in embarrassment and in an act of nervousness began to run her fingers through her hair where she noticed “a substantial amount of an extremely sticky substance.” She began to cry and tried to get the attention of a flight attendant, but was unsuccessful. When the plane landed, the airline called airport police and the man was arrested. The suit contends that airline staff saw the man take the vacant seat but did nothing to make him return to his assigned seat.

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