Cardiologist wins 8 years long battle against Airline, to get Rs 10 lakh compensation

In a litigation that commenced in March 2015, the doctor’s attorney presented his case. The 54-year old Dr KS Kishore, a senior doctor with Sagar Hospitals, Bengaluru flew to Orlando in the US in June 2014 to attend a medical conference. He was returning to Bengaluru on June 27, 2014. However, his flight from Orlando to Frankfurt in which he was flying business class was delayed by a few hours. The doctor rushed to board his connecting flight to Bengaluru, on touching down in the Germany city, but was not allowed to board as merely 15 minutes were left for takeoff.

The doctor elaborated that no efforts were made to accommodate him in another flight or provide him with hotel accommodation which he was entitled to as a business-class flyer once the airline staff claimed that bad weather had caused the flight delay. Eventually, he was forced to spend the night at the common area of the airport and had to spend another Rs 4 lakh for tickets to fly to Bengaluru the next day.

Consequently, the day’s delay caused him to miss crucial surgeries and Lufthansa failed to help him despite him being its loyal customer for years, the doctor alleged.

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Aggrieved, he moved an application with the Sate Commission against the German carrier for deficiency in service.

In response, Lufthansa's lawyer denied all the allegations and asked for the case to be dismissed as the court doesn’t have territorial jurisdiction over an incident that allegedly unfolded in Germany.

The lawyer further argued that the airline staff in Frankfurt had rebooked the doctor on another flight and provided him with refreshments and hotel vouchers due to the initial flight delay caused due to bad weather which was beyond Lufthansa’s control.

He added that it was no fault of the airline that the complainant couldn’t use the hotel voucher as he didn’t have a transit visa to enter the facility at the airport.

However, the court, on February 23, 2023, noted that the claims of airlines were baseless as they failed to produce any material evidence to prove the flight delay and having provided the passenger with the necessary amenities. The court notably refused to believe the reasons for delay as bonafide.

Subsequently, the court held Lufthansa responsible for service deficiency and unprofessional behaviour in dealing with a loyal customer and ordered it to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh, reports TOI.