Briscoe v. Compagnie Nationale Air France, 290 F. Supp. 863 – Dist. Court, SD New York 1968
Facts
It appears without dispute that on August 10, 1967, plaintiff bought from Air France in New York a ticket for air travel by Air France from New York to Paris by specific flight on August 31, from Paris to Belgrade by specific flight on September 1, from Belgrade to Paris on a date and flight number not specified, and from Paris to New York on a date and flight number not specified. On the ticket to the left of the final destination, New York, is the date September 21, 1967, apparently indicating the date plaintiff expected to arrive back in New York; this would mean a departure from Belgrade on September 20, 1967.
The initials “AF” for Air France appeared on the ticket to indicate the air carrier New York to Paris, from Paris to Belgrade, from Belgrade to Paris, and from Paris to New York. The ticket as issued contemplated that the return trip from Belgrade would be by Air France.
It also appears that when plaintiff decided to return from Belgrade she wished to return starting from Belgrade on Thursday, September 14, 1967. At that time Air France had no flights from Belgrade to Paris on Thursdays; the Air France flights from Belgrade to Paris were on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Yugoslav Airways, however, did have a flight (No. 240) from Belgrade to Paris on Thursdays. This flight stopped en route at Munich.
In order to permit plaintiff to start her flight on Thursday, September 14, Air France in Belgrade changed her ticket to substitute Yugoslav Airways as the carrier from Belgrade to Paris and to provide for passage for plaintiff on Flight No. 240 of Yugoslav Airways on September 14. The substitution was made by sticking a “revalidated form” on the original ticket at the place where the original ticket provided for transport from Belgrade to Paris by Air France. The “revalidated form” shows the carrier from Belgrade to Paris to be “JU”, concededly referring to Yugoslav Airways; shows the flight number to be 240; and shows the date to be September 14.
Plaintiff did take Yugoslav Airways Flight No. 240 on September 14 and suffered her injuries as averred when the Yugoslav plane stopped at Munich.
It is agreed by both sides that the Warsaw Convention (49 Stat. 3000) is applicable to the contract of carriage.
Issue(s)
Whether Yugoslav Airways was a “successive carrier” under Article 30 or not? If yes, this would have the result that Air France would not be liable as the (other) successive carrier; Air France did not operate the leg upon which Plaintiff was injured.
Discussion
At 866:
The argument for plaintiff is simply that the contract of transportation made at New York and evidenced by the ticket did not provide that the transportation was “to be performed by various successive carriers” and thus that the provisions of Article 30(1) and (2) cannot be applied.
The difficulty with this argument is that it ignores what happened in Belgrade. In effect, the parties there completed and amended the contract made in New York by designating Yugoslav Airways as the carrier from Belgrade to Paris (in place of Air France) and by specifying the date and time of departure from Belgrade. The reason for designating Yugoslav Airways in place of Air France was for the convenience of plaintiff because on the day she wished to leave Belgrade Air France had no flight. The reason, however, is of no significance for the problem here.
Since the completion and amendment at Belgrade was within the contemplation of the parties when the contract was made in New York, it seems only fair and reasonable to treat the completion and amendment as relating back to the making of the contract at New York. In this view, Yugoslav Airways was a “successive carrier” and plaintiff may not proceed against Air France.
Useful for
Interline is successive carriage
No liability of successive carrier for death or injury on other successive carrier
Substituted carrier a successive carrier where original contract allows substitution
