Long Flight Delays and Inadequate Measures... Supreme Court Rules Compensation for Passengers' Mental Distress Required

Published 13 Nov.2023 18:33(KST)

The Supreme Court has ruled that if an airline fails to take sufficient measures when a flight is significantly delayed, it must compensate passengers for mental damages.

[Photo by Beopryul Newspaper]

The Supreme Court Civil Division 3 (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) on October 26 upheld the lower court's partial ruling in favor of plaintiffs in a damages claim lawsuit (2022Da254765) filed by Mr. A and 268 others against Asiana Airlines (plaintiffs' legal representative: Attorney Kim Ji-hye).

An Asiana Airlines passenger flight was scheduled to depart from Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, at 1:10 a.m. on September 13, 2019, and arrive at Incheon International Airport, but was canceled due to an aircraft defect. The airline informed passengers of the cancellation around 4:20 a.m. and provided accommodations. Most passengers were only able to board a flight to Korea at 11:40 p.m. on the 13th, well past the originally scheduled time.

The passengers filed a lawsuit seeking 700,000 KRW per person in compensation for mental damages against the airline.

Article 19 of the Montreal Convention, an international treaty applicable to transportation by international air travel, states that "the carrier is liable for damage caused by delay in the carriage of passengers, baggage or cargo." However, it also stipulates that the carrier is not liable if it has taken all reasonable measures to avoid the damage.

The first and second instance courts ruled that the damages defined by the Montreal Convention include both property damages and mental damages, and thus the airline could be held liable for compensation on that basis.

They judged that Asiana Airlines could not avoid liability because it was aware of the defect and could have decided to cancel the flight earlier but notified passengers of the cancellation late.

However, considering the cause and circumstances of the delay, the response measures such as providing accommodations, and the disruption to the expected schedule caused by the delay, the court ordered Asiana Airlines to pay 400,000 KRW per passenger.

The Supreme Court also recognized the airline's liability for compensation and dismissed the airline's appeal. However, it stated, "The damages under Article 19 of the Montreal Convention generally mean only property damages unless there are special circumstances," and that mental damages should be judged according to Korean domestic law.

In this case, compensation liability for mental damages was recognized based on domestic law.

The court explained, "The lower court's interpretation of Article 19 of the Montreal Convention according to the Korean law of damages, the forum where this case was filed, and its reasoning that mental damages compensation liability can be recognized directly under Article 19 of the Convention is inappropriate. However, the conclusion recognizing compensation liability for mental damages caused by the flight delay is justified, and there is no error in law or insufficiency of reasoning regarding Articles 19 and 29 of the Montreal Convention that would affect the judgment as argued in the appeal."

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Civil Division 3 (Presiding Justice Lee Heung-gu) also on the same day upheld the lower court's partial ruling in favor of plaintiffs in a damages claim lawsuit (2021Da259510) filed by passengers against Jeju Air for long flight delays, ordering the airline to compensate 400,000 to 700,000 KRW per person (plaintiffs' legal representatives: Attorneys Kim Hanna, Jung Somang, and Lee Jaehwan of Law Firm DooWoo).

The passengers were scheduled to board a flight from Clark International Airport in the Philippines to Korea at 3:05 a.m. on January 21, 2019, but suffered damages due to a 19-hour and 25-minute delay caused by an aircraft defect and filed a lawsuit.