Aviation

• What does it mean to be a Board Certified Aviation Law attorney?
   
• What happens if I arrive at the airport and get bumped from my flight and arrive at my destination later than planned?
   
• What happens if I am on a vacation and the airline loses my luggage?
   
• On a recent vacation with my family, while we were flying from New York to Orlando, an unruly passenger got intoxicated and pushed a flight attendant. When we landed in Orlando, the passenger was met by the police. What happened?
   
• With all the accidents that I hear about involving commercial airliners, is there anything that I can do to make my flight safer?
   
• I have a friend who was injured when a flight attendant rammed a beverage cart into a passenger aboard a domestic flight. Does that passenger have a claim against the airlines?
   
• I recently read of a commercial airline accident involving an Air Alaska flight from Mexico to a city in California. In reading the news, it was mentioned that the people that were injured or killed on the flight were limited in the amount of money that they could recover. Is this true?
   

What does it mean to be a Board Certified Aviation Law attorney?

Board Certification is a special designation awarded by the Florida Bar Association that identifies an attorney as a specialist in the area of aviation law. In order to become Board Certified as an aviation law attorney, a lawyer is required to have a specified numbers of years of practice in the area of aviation law (usually a minimum of 5 years), considerable continuing legal education in aviation law (this is education and courses taken after law school in the specialty of aviation law) and the lawyer must take an pass a comprehensive full day written examination administered by the Florida Bar Association. Board Certification indicates an exceptional level of competence in handling matters involving aviation law. Our firm has handles significant aviation cases all over the world involving general aviation, commercial airline, military and domestic and international air crashes and disasters for our clients. Law partners Barry Zisser and Don Maciejewski are FAA-certified commercial pilots. In addition to being a Board Certified aviation law attorney, partner, Don Maciejewski is also a member of the Florida Bar Association Aviation Law Certification Committee, the organization responsible for evaluating and testing attorneys who apply for Aviation Board Certification.

What happens if I arrive at the airport and get bumped from my flight and arrive at my destination later than planned?

A common problem facing air travelers is getting "bumped" from your flight. Bumping occurs when an air carrier over books a specific flight and does not have enough seats for the number of passengers who show up for the trip. Customarily, the airline will ask for volunteers to give up their seats and in exchange for volunteering, the airline customarily gives the volunteer-passenger a travel voucher and guaranteed transportation on the next available flight to the passenger's destination.

If you are involuntarily bumped from a flight and the airline cannot get you to your destination within two hours of your original scheduled arrival time, it is common for the airline to offer you a free coach class round trip ticket for future air travel or other complimentary benefits for the inconvenience. If the airline can deliver you to your destination within two hours of your original scheduled arrival time, it is not required that the airline provide you with any remuneration or benefit, however, the practice in the industry has been to provide inconvenienced passengers with something of value (i.e., a cash voucher, travel voucher or free ticket) as a matter of good business practice.

What happens if I am on a vacation and the airline loses my luggage?

If the air carrier loses your luggage, they will ask for your assistance in identifying the style, shape and color of luggage container, and the airline will then conduct a search in an effort to find your luggage. Generally, once the luggage is found, it is delivered to the location of your preference free of charge. If, however, the luggage is lost and not recovered, you need to be aware that you are limited to claiming approximately $150.00 per lost item of luggage. Please carefully check your airline ticket for any limitation of liability on the part of the air carrier for replacing lost luggage and the contents found therein. We recommend to our clients and friends that high value items not be placed in checked luggage. Things like tape recorders, cameras, jewelry and other high value items should be carried with the passenger onboard the airplane, and not placed in checked baggage.

On a recent vacation with my family, while we were flying from New York to Orlando, an unruly passenger got intoxicated and pushed a flight attendant. When we landed in Orlando, the passenger was met by the police. What happened?

The Federal Aviation Regulations are federal laws which govern public air transportation. Flight attendants are on board aircraft to insure the safety of passengers and to make flights comfortable and enjoyable for airline customers. If a passenger becomes intoxicated and physically pushes a flight attendant, that passenger is subject to criminal penalties including a fine and imprisonment. Even if a passenger were not intoxicated, but used force on a flight attendant, that passenger would be subject to criminal liability and imprisonment. What most likely happened in Orlando is the local authorities were placing the unruly passenger under arrest, and carting him off to jail. The lesson to be learned here is that, if you have a difference of opinion or disagreement with a flight attendant, keep it to yourself until you are on the ground. Once on the ground, report any problems with the flight attendant to the flight service manager for the airline that is transporting you. A formal written complaint will go further in correcting the problem than taking matters into your own hands.

With all the accidents that I hear about involving commercial airliners, is there anything that I can do to make my flight safer?

Yes. There are things that every air traveler can do to insure their added safety in the event of an emergency, hard landing or crash. First, it is important that you have your seat belt on at all times during the flight. Even though the Captain may turn the seat belt sign off and encourage you to move around the cabin at your leisure, it is important to keep your seat belt fastened while you are in your seat. Unexpected clear air turbulence cannot be forecast, and frequently, airline passengers are injured in turbulence accidents because they were thrown from their seat during an unexpected and unforecasted episode of turbulence. With regard to enhancing your margin of safety, remember that the two most critical times in a commercial flight are takeoff and landing. When boarding the airplane, even the most seasoned air traveler should pay attention to the flight attendants during the emergency briefing that takes prior to takeoff. Each type of commercial aircraft is different in configuration, positioning of the exits and cabin layout. A 737, MD80 and 747 are all distinctly different types of airplanes. It is important to become familiar with your potential path of escape/egress in the event of an emergency. It only takes a few moments to pay attention to the flight attendants prior to departing on your flight. Your awareness of the aircraft safety devices and exits will improve your chances of survival and a safe exit from the airplane in the event of an emergency.

I have a friend who was injured when a flight attendant rammed a beverage cart into a passenger aboard a domestic flight. Does that passenger have a claim against the airlines?

The answer to the question is an unequivocal yes. Although the Airline Deregulation Act (ADA) prevents claims against airlines that relate to rates, routes or services, recent cases have specifically found that passengers have claims against the airlines for negligence stemming from their flight attendants or other cabin personnel. Our firm has handles a number of in-flight cases for passengers who sustain injuries due to negligence of the airline or its cabin employees.

I recently read of a commercial airline accident involving an Air Alaska flight from Mexico to a city in California. In reading the news, it was mentioned that the people that were injured or killed on the flight were limited in the amount of money that they could recover. Is this true?

Yes. While damages are potentially unlimited for domestic air crashes which cause injury or death to passengers, international flights are governed by the Warsaw Convention and the Montreal Protocol of 1999. Both the Warsaw Convention and the Montreal Protocol set forth limitations of liability for airliners that are in the business of transporting international passengers. The Air Alaska flight that you referred to is governed by the Warsaw Convention and the limitations on liability are 135,000 SDRs. An SDR is a standard amount of currency which has a different value depending on the country from which the claimant/passenger/injured person is from. The maximum recovery that an American citizen could realize from injury or death stemming from an international flight under the current law is approximately $135,000.00. There is a provision for removing the liability cap if it can be shown that the airline crash or accident was the result of intentional misconduct on the part of the airline. The intentional misconduct requirement is very difficult to prove, and of the numerous international air crashes which have occurred over the last ten years, only a handful have met the burden of proving intentional misconduct, which in turn removed any cap on liability.