Airlines in court over 'economy class syndrome'

LONDON - Victims of "economy class syndrome" went to London's High Court yesterday to sue some of the world's biggest airlines over deadly blood clots they blame on cramped aircraft cabins.

Fifty-six survivors and victims' relatives have banded together to claim millions in damages from 28 airlines, including Air New Zealand, British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch and American Airlines.

The victims argue that cramped seats, low oxygen levels and long hours in the air are to blame for the clots that can invade the lungs, heart and brain. They say airlines failed to warn passengers of the risks of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or economy class syndrome, despite knowing of them for years.

The airlines reject the claims.

"The airlines have known for years that their passengers were exposed to injury and death," said Ruth Christoffersen, whose 28-year-old daughter Emma died of a clot on the lung after a 20-hour flight from Australia to Britain two years ago.

"They knew for more years than my daughter Emma was alive," she said before yesterday's hearing.

Three days or more of arguments will decide whether the case can proceed. Legal wrangling will centre on an international aviation treaty, the 1929 Warsaw Convention, that says airlines are liable for damages only if an accident happens while a passenger is on board.

The airlines argue that DVT is not an accident. In other words, if a passenger is struck down with DVT on a routine flight the carrier cannot be blamed.

But the claimants were ready to fight that, said one of their lawyers Stuart Cakebread.

"The airlines ... seek, in the age of the jumbo jet, to hide behind the wording of a convention drawn up in the days of the biplane," he said.

The airlines say deep vein thrombosis is not a flying disease. "It is a disease which affects a large number of people with risk factors ... including inactivity," said Sean Gates, a lawyer for the airlines.

He said people who were overweight, dehydrated or taking birth control pills may be at special risk. Anyone immobile for a long time - hospital patients, taxi drivers and television addicts - could be struck down.

If their bid to sue under the Warsaw Convention fails, the claimants argue they are entitled to pursue the suit under international human rights law. Both sides have said they are likely appeal against the initial decision if it goes against them.

- REUTERS

Further reading
Feature: Economy class syndrome

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