Passenger wins case against airline that ruined his life
An airline has been ordered to pay more than £6,000 (€6,800) in compensation to an passenger who lost his job after the firm changed his flight without informing him.
Indian-born Raj Kumar Sharma lost his job along with medical benefits, insurance cover and home.
Mr Sharma, who worked as a nurse in Libya, had gone to India to spend time with his terminally-ill mother. He was granted 80 days' leave by the Libyan health ministry.
He booked a confirmed return ticket from Air Malta scheduled to leave two days before his Libyan visa was due to expire. The company has a code sharing arrangement with Emirates Airlines, under which both airlines jointly market the same flight.
When he reached New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, he was informed by authorities that his reservations from Dubai to Malta and another flight from Malta to Djebra had been cancelled.
In defence, Emirates Airlines told the Delhi state consumer commission that Mr Sharma’s tickets were issued by Air Malta, making them liable. The firm added that it was only acting as a carrier from India as Air Malta had no airline operations from the country.
The incident happened in 1999 but was only settled yesterday.
Justice J D Kapoor rejected the plea and said airlines were equally liable for ensuring that the tickets issued as well as the airlines schedule given as confirmation did not change.
Despite having Mr Sharma’s contact number, the airline did not inform him about the change in schedule and was directed yesterday to pay him compensation.
