Lawsuits Against Southwest Airlines
Two Unfortunate Cases Against Southwest Airlines
Four separate lawsuits have been filed against Southwest Airlines, one in California and three in Arkansas. On March 5th, a Southwest Airlines flew a Boeing 747-sized jet into an electrical generator facility in Burbank, California. On March 6th, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 747-sized jet crashed into a warehouse in Los Angeles, killing all nine on board. And lastly, there was a Southwest Airlines jet that crashed into an antenna tower at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, killing a pilot and six passengers. All of these aircraft involved in this terrible accident were operated by the same airline, which is owned by the famous entrepreneur, Philip Kirby.
The latest of these lawsuits revolves around a claim that a female passenger became upset after being denied service and began screaming that she needed a tax refund for her non-stop seat.
What is not known is that the woman may have actually been a security guard who was performing her duties as per the company’s policy. No one has reported any loss of service or tax refund as a result of this accident.
A second suit, this time for loss of wages, is currently before the courts. An out of control, nervous male passenger caused an accident and ended up hurting his legs.
A fellow passenger tried to calm him down but the man, unable to communicate, ended up getting thrown off a plane. The passenger who injured the leg was dragged off the plane as well and treated at a local hospital before being sent to a medically induced coma.
The pilots and crew of Southwest Airlines have already settled with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in regard to their liability for this accident.
Their insurance companies have also settled. However, the Federal Trade Commission is still working on its own claims against the airline employees’ compensation claims. This is considering a case filed by an employee who claims that he suffered stress after he refused to give up his seat for a female passenger. The airline later said it will increase the offers it makes to passengers willing to give up their seats for promotions.
When news of these accidents first hit the news, Southwest Airlines quickly released statements saying they would not be using seat covers for their flights anymore due to the risk of liability.
They said they would continue to monitor the safety of their pilots and staff as the safety measures currently in place are working. Although there were initial safety concerns expressed by the airline, none of the passengers were harmed during the flight. A mechanical issue caused the accident, not the pilot. The airline now says it will review all of the safety data in the future to determine whether changes need to be made to the program.
These two lawsuits come at a time when many passengers are asking just how safe flying on an airline is.
In the United States, there are so many lawsuits against airlines and not enough evidence to prove that a passenger’s safety is actually any more important than the company’s. There have been numerous reports of birds landing on planes, injuring people and damaging the planes. Yet another lawsuit has been filed against this same airline by one of its pilots. There have also been reports of small animals landing on planes and injuring people. Many of these injuries could have been avoided if the pilots had taken reasonable steps to prevent them from happening.
