SOUTHWEST AIRLINES DEFEATS CLASS ACTION CLAIM ARISING FROM SHORTAGE OF DEICING FLUID
October 15, 2019
An Illinois passenger has failed to prevail in a class action lawsuit against Southwest Airlines Co. (Southwest) which sought damages arising from Southwest running out of deicing fluid and being forced to cancel certain flights. Specifically, the plaintiff had sued over his cancelled flight to Chicago’s Midway International Airport on February 11, 2018, as well as on behalf of passengers whose flights on several other winter days had been cancelled due to the airline’s alleged failure to stock enough deicing fluid. The case was heard in U.S. federal court in Chicago.
Southwest successfully argued that Conditions of Carriage (CoC) terms relating to meteorological and force major cancellations covered a situation where there was insufficient deicing fluid available to maintain full operations, as cancellation related to deicing was clearly within the ambit of “aviation safety.” The court relied on contract language to settle the case, concluding that there was no implied promise in Southwest’s CoC – and thus no legal duty to ensure – that the airline would always have enough deicing fluid to support operation of every flight.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Alexander Matthews (amatthews@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6633).
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