Flier Sues Delta for Bogus Weather Cancellation, Wins

[Matt Molnar]

Rundown...

• Man attempts to fly back to NY after weekend in Vegas with his pregnant wife.
• Delta cancels LAS-JFK flight because of snow in New York, but other airlines are operating normally.
• Man asks for refund, Delta tells him no, weather cancellations are not refundable.
• Man buys tickets on JetBlue for $938, successfully gets to NY.
• Man files suit in NYC Small Claims Court for $938.
• Delta doesn't show up for court date, man wins default judgment!

Full Story: http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/04/magazin ... /index.htm (http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/04/magazines/fortune/demos_airline.fortune/index.htm)

[adam613]

He didn't really win...you win automatically if the other party doesn't show up, and it probably wasn't worth Delta's time to show up over $938. I suspect if they did show up in court, they would have explained how the plane was stuck in Atlanta due to the weather that was to affect NY at 5 AM the next day, and they wouldn't have owed him a cent.

[USAF Pilot 07]

He didn't really win...you win automatically if the other party doesn't show up, and it probably wasn't worth Delta's time to show up over $938. I suspect if they did show up in court, they would have explained how the plane was stuck in Atlanta due to the weather that was to affect NY at 5 AM the next day, and they wouldn't have owed him a cent.

Is that a viable defense though? Weather was OK in LAS and NYC (enough so that other carriers were operating). Being a little bit of a "Legal nitpicker", isn't it really Delta's fault for routing that aircraft through ATL (where the wx was). Why should a passenger who booked a ticket from LAS to NYC, care what the weather is 2,000 miles away in a city nowhere near close to his destination/arrival airport?

I can see both sides of the argument... legally not sure who would win....

[adam613]

Is that a viable defense though? Weather was OK in LAS and NYC (enough so that other carriers were operating). Being a little bit of a "Legal nitpicker", isn't it really Delta's fault for routing that aircraft through ATL (where the wx was). Why should a passenger who booked a ticket from LAS to NYC, care what the weather is 2,000 miles away in a city nowhere near close to his destination/arrival airport?

I can see both sides of the argument... legally not sure who would win....

I'm not sure that, in this certain circumstance, the problem really was that the airplane got stuck in ATL due to weather. But if we (in NYC) were expecting bad weather at 5 AM the next day, standard weather patterns would make it logical that there was bad weather in Atlanta on the day in question. And we all know how things work when there's bad weather in an airline hub city :)

Under that assumption, Delta has a perfectly cromulent defense that the delay was weather-related. It is Delta's fault that the plane was routed through ATL and that they couldn't get another plane to LAS to operate the flight in question, but in order for him to sue and win, he would have to establish that Delta was either negligent or in violation of their terms...on the contrary, it's pretty standard in the aviation industry for everything to go to **** for an airline when one of that airline's hub cities has severe weather. Their obligation is to rebook him...they did so, just not for a flight as soon as he would have liked. It isn't relevant that other airlines were operating their flights normally...other airlines didn't have their planes stuck at ATL.

Also, even if he did find a judge that agreed with him, Delta's liability would have been limited to the fare he paid for the Delta flight, not the fare he paid JetBlue...it isn't Delta's responsibility that he made alternate arrangements when Delta provided a suitable (according to their policies and relevant law) option.

The big problem with his complaint is the assertion that the delay wasn't weather-related...it would be pretty simple for Delta to prove that it was. He took a gamble that Delta wouldn't show up...it was probably a pretty safe bet on his part.

[USAF Pilot 07]

Good explanation! Makes sense to me!

[Alex T]

Regardless of the action, It is nice to see the person sue for the ACTUAL COST, the airline ticket, and not 938 MILLION.

Like most Americans here usually would.

Alex