A Qantas passenger Barry Johnston who flew Sydney – Los Angeles on July 18, 2015 is suing the airline because his seat kept reclining and “the back cushions fell to the cabin floor” causing him discomfort – and ultimately harm to his 43 year old body.
Qantas Airbus A380
The passenger says that 3 hours into the flight he was sitting on the metal seat frame sans cushion and that he “was forced to contort his neck and body unnaturally in the seat.” Furthermore, his seat kept reclining and wouldn’t stay up. By the end of his flight he had ‘pain and stiffness’ (which sounds to me like he flew coach). He reports lower back and upper back injuries as well as a neck injury as a result of seat 62K.
Qantas Economy
Qantas argues that:
- There was nothing wrong with the seat according to their maintenance records.
- And if there was there were 70 empty seats on the plane that he could have moved to.
Mr. Johnston says flight attendants were ‘too busy’ to move him.
He says he had another broken seat flying Honolulu – Sydney a month later. He also says his seat was broken flying Sydney – Melbourne and Melbourne – Sydney days afterward as well.
Qantas Economy
The passenger claims his income has suffered because he can no longer travel internationally for work.
If successful, this could open up a whole new cause of action: an economy boarding pass. Just think of the class actions that could be certified.
Ridiculous! It sounds like every flight he flew he had a “broken seat”!
I am going to save every bp in future!
Too bad for people like you and Lucky who never fly economy and thus won’t get anything from those lawsuits. (Maybe you can think of the grave danages done to your personality and life in general by flying in big first class seats?)
Wait, we the coach folks won’t get anything from these coach lawsuits either Only the class action lawyers will benefit. All I can expect is an airfare increase to cover those settlements. 🙂
What a title. Applause Gary.
Sometimes seats have safety defects and the airlines always claim there was no problem.
I flew JetBlue recently and the seatbelt did not work. Yes, I kept cinching it but under and strain the seatbelt slid through the buckle. I complained to JetBlue DURING and after the flight but they blew me off, claiming they followed FAA rules. I then filed a formal complaint with the FAA. They asked JetBlue if there was any issue with the seatbelt. JetBlue denied same.
Maybe, just maybe, we need a way to do safety concern checks without relying on the airline to self inspect.
So why couldn’t this guy self-relocate to one of the other 70 spare seats if cabin crew were ‘too busy’ (unlikely). He has no case, and is likely now on a Qantas ‘no-fly’ list.
and here i thought frivolous lawsuits was an exclusive american trait.
Well, as a former law student and court reporter who “wrote” big time airline crash cases in court, thank your “whoever” that you only were “inconvienced” with your seating.
I actually had a much worse experience on AA to Europe not too long ago on a Business? Class seat & I am still limping along & not suing – wimp? Going to try AA & One world Partner to & from USA to Australia area. Any brilliant suggestions? Or maybe your “lawyer” does? What a joke.
Perhaps he’ll want to fly one of these http://www.firstclass.com.au/best-business-class-seats-2016 in future? Just a suggestion 🙂
This is exactly what I am talking about with these recalcitrant Australians. My reply relating to the QF steward says it all. This poor darling hurt his back. Oh diddums. Bloody cry baby, get the hell over yourself. Give yourself a massive uppercutThey have become a nation of whingers, of privileged, entitled, elitist, leftie, minorities, monkeys running the asylum. Thank god I left. This is yet another example. Unfortunately about to get on a plane in Saigon with a plane load full of ’em. Luckily it’s VN’s new 787-9 so I have a single seat to myself. And thank god only 4 days there. Then getting the hello out of the place. They need a Donald Trump to sort the bastards out. At the moment it really is spot the Aussie. Clean out the nasty swamp, and believe me, it’s nasty down there.
AA flight from CLT – ORD. My window seat was fine, but the electric box underneath the seat in front of me had come loose and wires were all bulking out. I mentioned it to the FA as we boarded and found the issue as I found my seat.
She went upfront to report it. I thought nothing would be done – but I was re-seated one row forward.
By the time everyone was seated still no sign of any action. Then the captain came on the PA and announced an issue with one of the seats, and that we had to wait for an engineer. Eventually, an orange vest mechanic came to inspect the electric box under the seat and deemed the seat inoperable and asked the crew to cordon it off with tape. After this was done, we were deemed airworthy and away we went.
So I was responsible for a 20 minute delay with my reporting the issue. In the end I was glad I did, but two questions remain:
1. Were we really airworthy? The loose cover for the box was removed, but no inspection of all the wires was carried out. What if something had shorted?
2. Who the hell kicked or pounded feet or luggage under that poor seat which such force that it completely broke the electric unit?
What would you have done?
AA flight from CLT – ORD. My window seat was fine, but the electric box underneath the seat in front of me had come loose and wires were all bulking out. I mentioned it to the FA as we boarded and found the issue as I found my seat.
She went upfront to report it. I thought nothing would be done – but I was re-seated one row forward.
By the time everyone was seated still no other sign of any action. Then the captain came on the PA and announced an issue with one of the seats, and that we had to wait for an engineer. Eventually, an orange vest mechanic came to inspect the electric box under the seat and deemed the seat inoperable and asked the crew to cordon it off with tape. After this was done, we were deemed airworthy and away we went.
So I was responsible for a 20 minute delay with my reporting the issue. In the end I was glad I did, but two questions remain:
1. Were we really airworthy? The loose cover for the box was removed, but no inspection of all the wires was carried out. What if something had shorted?
2. Who the hell kicked or pounded feet or luggage under that poor seat which such force that it completely broke the electric unit?
What would you have done?
As a former Flight Attendant for United I must let you know that there are many broken seats on the aircrafts in the sky. It is against the FAA regulations to depart with a broken seat. Flight Attendants must report it to the Cockpit crew immediately and this is for safety purposes in case of an emergency. However this causes delays so United maintenance always try to defer this to the next station and it caused discomfort for the passengers seated in it and behind it. If a Flight Attendants look away from this and want to depart first and then report please make a big deal and let them fix it or get you another seat and block that seat. They do not do this because this costs money.
United’s aircrafts always have many maintenance issues which is often deferred.
I was on Air France last year where the seat was broken on a 12 hour flight from CDG-LAX. This really caused me several issues. I could not rest, back problems and yes when I got off the aircraft my back was hurting for days. Perhaps this man has a point to make. Now, we do not know for fact that if all these seats that he is mentioning that were broken or it was pure back luck.
I was on American Airlines/US airways a year ago with a broken seat on two flights from CDG to PHL and then PHIL to LAS. My back did hurt for days as a result of seating on these two flights. I did not sue and when I wrote a letter I did not even get an apology.
Also, when I worked for United, there were several seats on the 747’s that the seat cushions were simply just worn out because of wear and tear and were not replaced. I had to write many Flight reports, stating this to the company and I was given inconvenience vouchers to offer miles or a certain dollar amount to passengers as an apology. Most Flight Attendants and Pursers do not use this method as it is a redflag to the company. I was fired because I allegedly gave too many drinks to the customers (I was too nice to keep answering call lights and give people whatever they wanted). Redflag means, the company can see that you are constantly offering people miles and vouchers. I was also written up by my supervisor because I had given multiple vouchers to customers who’s seats were broken and also were not able to eat breakfast. Because United Airlines uses an old method from the 70’s (the meals cook on electric trays instead of an oven and often times the heating pads are broken or do not heat up, so Flight Attendants cook multiple times or put it on for way over 30 minutes that is why your omelette turns gray and disgusting). So, Pursers are suppose to offer a voucher for all these issues, broken seats and etc. However I was fired because I offered way too many of these vouchers and the State of California did not protect me against United for wrongful termination and I could not afford a lawyer. I was fired after nearly 20 some years of exemplary service. I was denied unemployment and I lost all my retirement and everything else. I worked so hard for many years. United Airlines is a disgraceful horrible company and they get away with a lot.
So, if you have a broken seat please report it to the Flight Attendants immediately. If you are on United, the chances are that they are going to brush this off, so they can have an on time departure because they do not care about your safety and whatever you hear from United is completely nonsense.