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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

What A Baby

US Airways passengers get $5,000 each; is it enough?

$5000 isn't enough? You land safely in a river, instead of crashing into a horrible death on solid ground, you get a bloody nose and a few bruises, and $5000 and a refunded ticket aren't enough?

Wow. Honestly, with this being an obvious accident, I think the airline is being exceedingly generous. They don't "owe" those passengers anything. There's always an inherent risk when you are on a plane, and instead of being thankful that he survived with pretty minor injuries, this guy is whining about how he's not getting more.

5 comments:

Nick said...

Actually, they do owe the passengers something. That money is not for any sort of trauma, but it is to pay for the lost luggage. As part of the NTSB investigation, they have to keep all the passenger luggage and passenger property that was stowed.

They actually have to let the luggage dry out, then weigh it as part of the investigation. That means that people will be without whatever clothes and other goods they stowed until the investigation is over, and even then, its possible they won't be given back.

Its compensation for lost property.

Shana said...

Very good point. I hadn't thought about the lost luggage. Even still, I doubt anyone there had over $5000 worth of luggage there, so they're still getting a pretty good deal.

Nick said...

Actually, I think you'd be surprised. Remember, we're talking about checked bags and carry ons... since people leave those behind when they got on the wing of the plane or got in the raft.

Think about what you might travel with:

- Clothes for up to 5 days. This can get pricey if you are traveling on business and have extra suits.
- 1 or 2 pairs of extra shoes.
- Camera? When I went to Mexico, I brought about $1000 worth of camera gear with me.

- Some people may travel with a laptop. That would be over $1000 right there.

- Cell phones + other misc. electronics.

- The luggage itself, which may be valued at a couple hundred bucks right there.

I can see some people hitting $5000 pretty easily, especially if there are business people on the plane.

Shana said...

Wow, I must be a cheap ride then. I hardly take anything with me when I fly, if I can help it. But, I don't have a lot of expensive stuff, and probably wouldn't take my good stuff unless I had to. I suppose, when you start adding all that up... But, I still think there's a bit of risk involved in flying, and for them to just write off checks right away before being sued at least shows good faith, I think they did a pretty good job there compared to what could have happened otherwise.

Nick said...

I agree with you there. They definitely did a good job at PR, and I think the $5k is nothing to complain about. If people lost more than that amount on the flight, then they should make an insurance claim.