A man is suing American Airlines for $100,000 after he was crushed by two obese passengers during a 14-hour flight and left with permanent back and neck injuries.
Michael Anthony Taylor, 67, claims airline staff refused to let him change seats on the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, despite his desperate pleas to move.
The Wollongong man says he was forced to crouch, kneel, brace and stand throughout the lengthy flight, which also aggravated his existing condition of curvature of the spine.
Mr Taylor was sitting in a window seat, but was unable to enjoy the view as his fellow passenger was taking up part of his 43-cm wide seat.
‘I don’t hold any malice towards the people in the seats next to me, they’d paid for a ticket too,’ he told The Daily Telegraph.
‘The airline could have put me in a crew seat or moved people around but they did nothing.’
The lawsuit could have a significant impact on airline industry, according Shine Lawyers transport law manager Thomas Janson.
‘If Michael is successful, this throws open the doors to potentially a large amount of cases against airlines and how they’ve designed their seating and how they seat passengers,’ Mr Janson told the Daily Telegraph.
‘There will be a huge outcry against the way airlines furnish their cabins, particularly in economy.’
MORE: Australian man sues American Airlines for $100,000 | Daily Mail Online
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