An airline has no legal obligation to provide its passengers with a "stress-free flight environment," even if they’re stuck in an aircraft on the tarmac for more than nine hours, a federal judge ruled earlier this month in Arkansas.
Catherine Ray of Fayetteville, Ark., had filed a lawsuit against American Airlines over a Dec. 29, 2006 flight diverted from Dallas-Fort Worth to Austin because of weather issues. After landing, passengers sat in the plane for 9.5 hours, unable to leave despite overflowing toilets and little food or water.
The tarmac delay spawned the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights, which later became FlyersRights.org, a passenger-rights group that has been championing delay-related federal legislation.
In dismissing Ray's lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson, said, "While the court is sympathetic to plaintiff and the other passengers’ position, and believes that defendant could and should have handled this situation differently, the facts do not support a claim of false imprisonment."
The judge also determined that Ray could not pursue a class action.
Dawson pointed out that Ray and other passengers were given opportunities to get off the plane. The judge acknowledged that Ray felt she had to stay on the plane because she said she was told by airline personnel she would be "on her own" if she got off the plane, but that did not mean she was imprisoned.
Ray complained of being claustrophobic during the delay and said she had an upset stomach the day following the diversion and tarmac delay -- possibly, she said, from not being able to wash her hands after going to the bathroom due to a lack of water.
But the judge ruled, "The plaintiff cannot show that she suffered any injuries that were proximately caused by defendant."
Commenting on the case and the decision, American spokesman Tim Smith said, "While the weather-related events of December 29, 2006 were extremely rare -- virtually unprecedented -- in the aftermath of that day American Airlines quickly initiated multiple proactive steps to avoid future recurrences of frustrating customer experiences."
Smith said American has always viewed the events from that flight diversion and delay "as issues of customer service and customer satisfaction, not about any legal liability."
FlyersRights.org director Kate Hanni was on that 2006 flight and has her own lawsuit pending on many of the same issues in a California court.
"Congress must legislate airline passengers' rights so individual judges can look to uniform rules rather than making up standards that are not connected to reality on a case-by-case basis," she said.
The decision only reinforces the need for federal legislation to create a standard for how long passengers can be kept on stranded flights, Hanni said.
