Hill v. United Airlines

• Decision Date: 27 October 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 80-4049.
• Citation: 550 F. Supp. 1048
• Parties: Alan M. HILL, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED AIRLINES, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Kansas

550 F. Supp. 1048

Alan M. HILL, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED AIRLINES, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 80-4049.

United States District Court, D. Kansas.

October 27, 1982.

Edward G. Collister, Jr., Collister & Kampschroeder, Lawrence, Kan., for plaintiffs.

Roger J. Perry, J. Roger Hendrix, Marshall, Hawks, Hendrix, Schenk & Nichols, Topeka, Kan., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SAFFELS, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on defendant's motion to determine controlling law and judgment thereon. Defendant has requested oral argument on its motion, however, after consideration of defendant's brief and exhibits, the statement of uncontroverted material facts and plaintiffs' response thereto, the court deems oral argument unnecessary to resolve the legal issues presented.

Plaintiffs' complaint against defendant alleges the tort of intentional misrepresentation. In this motion, defendant argues that the lawsuit is controlled by the terms of an international treaty known as the Warsaw Convention, which limits defendant's liability to a sum less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) as to each plaintiff, and which also requires the court to dismiss this action because of improper venue.

In a light most favorable to the parties opposing the motion, the court finds that on October 13, 1979, plaintiffs Hill and Norris had reservations on United Airlines Flight No. 427, departing Kansas City International Airport at 8:25 a.m. and arriving in Denver, Colorado, at 8:50 a.m., and United Airlines Flight No. 387 departing Denver, Colorado, at 9:55 a.m. and arriving in Seattle, Washington, at 11:35 a.m., and Northwest Orient Flight No. 007, departing Seattle, Washington, at 1:40 p.m., to Tokyo, Japan.

After being airborne on Flight No. 427 from Kansas City, it was announced that the Denver-Seattle flight had been cancelled due to inclement weather in Seattle. Plaintiffs notified the flight attendants of their connecting flight from Seattle to Tokyo, Japan. After arriving in Denver, plaintiffs informed the United Airlines' ticket agent of their Tokyo flight. Plaintiffs were told that, because of inclement weather in Seattle, all flights into Seattle were cancelled. Plaintiffs were referred to United Airlines' front information desk, where they were told by the ticket agent that because of weather conditions in Seattle, all flights into and out of Seattle were, or soon would be, cancelled. He further assured plaintiffs that they could still make their connection because all flights were delayed due to Seattle's weather.

In Denver, United Airlines booked plaintiffs on a Denver-Portland-Seattle flight, which was scheduled to arrive in Seattle after plaintiffs' Tokyo flight was scheduled to depart. When plaintiffs asked why this flight could get into Seattle, but United Flight No. 387 could not, they were told that the flight from Portland to Seattle would probably be cancelled soon, but would be made when the Seattle airport was again opened.

After being airborne for approximately twenty minutes, it was announced that the Seattle airport was now open, and the flight would be arriving on time. Arriving on time, however, would mean that plaintiffs would miss their connection to Tokyo, Japan. Plaintiffs, being concerned about missing this connecting flight, informed the United Airline's agent in Portland, Oregon, of their problem. This agent also told plaintiffs of the inclement weather in Seattle. Plaintiffs thereupon called Northwest Orient Airlines, the connecting carrier in Seattle, who called the Director of Aviation in Seattle, and found that the Seattle airport had been open all morning. When confronted with this information, the United Airlines' agent in Portland said that Northwest Orient was wrong, and that the Seattle airport had been closed, but closed only to incoming traffic.

Plaintiffs finally arrived at Seattle, but learned that Northwest Orient Flight No. 007 for Tokyo had departed on schedule. When confronted, the United Airlines' agent in Seattle admitted that the airport had been open all morning, and that Flight No. 387 from Denver to Seattle had been cancelled because the "necessary equipment," presumably an airplane, was not in Denver. On October 13, 1979, the airport in Seattle had, in fact, been closed only from twelve o'clock midnight until four o'clock a.m.

Other carriers were available and were flying into Seattle. Plaintiffs did not depart from Kansas City until 8:25 a.m. on October 13, 1979. Defendant United Airlines itself could have rerouted plaintiffs on United Airlines Flight No. 999 departing Kansas City at 10:20 a.m. and arriving in Seattle at 11:45 a.m. Braniff Airlines had a flight departing Kansas City at 10:05 a.m. and arriving in Seattle at 11:35 a.m. Alternatively, had plaintiffs known that the Seattle airport was indeed open, they could have been rerouted in Denver on Continental Flight No. 453 departing Denver at 9:50 a.m. and arriving in Seattle at 11:18 a.m. None of these flights were cancelled. All of these flights would have arrived in Seattle in time for plaintiffs to make their connecting flight to Tokyo.

The manufacture of an Isowa Rotary Die Cutter, ultimately purchased by plaintiff Lawrence Paper Company, was delayed by approximately one (1) month because plaintiffs Hill and Norris missed their Seattle-Tokyo flight. Plaintiff Norris claims actual damages in the sum of Nine Hundred Twenty-Five Dollars ($925). Plaintiff Hill claims actual damages in the amount of Four Hundred Forty-Seven and 50/100 Dollars ($447.50). Plaintiff Lawrence Paper Company claims actual damages in the amount of Six Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty and 50/100 Dollars ($6,730.50). All plaintiffs make a claim for punitive damages.

Defendant argues that the Warsaw Convention controls the respective parties' obligations and liabilities because of the international character of plaintiffs' trip. The Warsaw Convention, an international treaty dealing with international air transportation, was concluded in Warsaw, Poland, in 1929. The United States did not sign this treaty, but the United States became a party to the Warsaw Convention in 1934 by proclamation of the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. See 49 Stat. § 3000, et seq. Liability in international air transportation is governed in large part by the rules promulgated in the Warsaw Convention. The Warsaw Convention by its terms expressly applies to international transportation by air. Article I, Subparagraph 2 of the Warsaw Convention defines "international transportation" as:

"... any transportation in which, according to the contract made by the parties, the place of departure and the place of destination, whether or not there be a break in the transportation or a transshipment, are situated either within the territories of two High Contracting Parties, or within the territory of a single High Contracting Party, if there is an agreed stopping place within a territory subject to the sovereignty, suzerainty, mandate or authority of another power, even though that power is not a party to this convention..."

The airline transportation in this case concerned a trip from Kansas City, Missouri, to Tokyo, Japan; thus, this was international transportation under the terms of the Warsaw Convention. This is so because the United States has adopted the Convention, and Japan is a signatory party to the treaty, as is reflected by the signature of "His Majesty the Emperor of Japan." Both countries are "High Contracting Parties." On the face of things, therefore, the Warsaw Convention applies to this lawsuit.

Generally speaking, the Warsaw Convention limits an air carrier's liability to passengers for personal injury because of negligence to a certain designated sum of money. The Convention limits the liability of the carrier for each passenger to the sum of One Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand ($125,000) Francs, unless the carrier and passenger, by special contract, agree to a higher limit of liability, or unless it can be established that the carrier has been guilty of "willful misconduct." See Paragraph (1) of Articles 22 and 25 of the Warsaw Convention. See also, Ross v. Pan American Airways, 299 N.Y. 88, 85 N.E.2d 880, 13 A.L.R.2d 319, 335 (1949), Conway, J., dissenting.

Generally speaking, the Warsaw Convention prescribes the basic liability of a carrier in international air travel. Article 17 provides:

"The carrier shall be liable for damage sustained in the event of the death or wounding of a passenger ... if the accident which caused the damage so sustained took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking."

Damages for delays are governed by Article 19 of the Warsaw Convention, which provides:

"The carrier shall be liable for damage occasioned by delay in the transportation by air of passengers, baggage, or goods."

The air carrier is protected to some extent by the terms of the Warsaw Convention. Article 20(1) provides:

"The carrier shall not be liable if he proves that he and his agents have taken all necessary measures to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for him or them to take such measures."

Furthermore, an air carrier's liability is limited under the terms of the Warsaw Convention. Article 22(1) provides:

"In the transportation of passengers the liability of the carrier for each passenger shall be limited to the sum of 125,000 francs.... Nevertheless, by special contract, the carrier and the passenger may agree to a higher limit of liability."

The sum of One Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand ($125,000) Francs is equivalent to approximately Eight Thousand Three Hundred United States Dollars ($8,300). This dollar equivalent has prevailed since the 1933 devaluation of the dollar. Increasing dissatisfaction in the United States and by the United States government with the Warsaw Convention's liability limitation led to modification proposals in the Hague...