THE VICTIMS' CASE

The victims' case to be presented to the High Court is very simple. They say that for years the airlines have known that they were exposing their passengers unnecessarily to the risk of serious injury or death in the way they crammed seats together making it difficult for them to move around or exercise; then failed to provide basic advice or warnings to them which could have saved countless lives and avoided others suffering sometimes crippling injuries. They say that such culpable acts and omissions entitle the victims to compensation.

The airlines argue that even if they were at fault, which they do not admit, they are protected from having to compensate their victims by reliance upon the strict wording of the Warsaw Convention which was drawn up in 1929, in the age of the biplane, and still in force in the age of the Jumbo jet. They contend that because the carriers always operate their airplanes in this way, when an injury or death results it is simply the internal reaction of the passenger to the "expected and usual" operation of the aircraft.

To this the victims respond that those who drew up the Convention in 1929 were trying to provide a means for passengers to obtain compensation for injury and death caused by the wrongful acts of the airlines, not a shield for them to hide behind. They point out that very often the airlines have the protection in any event of clauses in the Warsaw Convention which limit the level of compensation they have to pay. They also argue that it would be a breach of their Human Rights, guaranteed by the Human Rights Act 1998, to prevent them from obtaining proper compensation.