DVT

[apache]

So the appeal went against sueing the airlines, how does that work then, you fly 12/14 hours jammed in a space the RSPCA would deem cruel for an animal, get DVT and the airline has no duty of care? How many others think this sucks?

[CarZee]

It doth verily suck. Also today, an Australian Court ruled that DVT casualties (or their familes) can indeed sue airlines for this.

I guess that Australia hasn't got the air traffic lobby on it's back the same way our lot have, but it'll go to the house of lords and we'll see what they have to say.

Another thing that happened today is that tissue type analysis of pre-implant embryos was ruled illegal, after the all clear issued by the HFEA was successfully challenged in court by some prolife feminazi types.

All other sorts of embryology jiggery pokery has not been ruled out - just the tissue typing which is required to see if an embtyo is genetically similar to a sibling which requires bone marrow or stem cells in order to live.

Some rum goings on.

[johnelliott]

So the appeal went against sueing the airlines, how does that work then, you fly 12/14 hours jammed in a space the RSPCA would deem cruel for an animal, get DVT and the airline has no duty of care? How many others think this sucks?

You don't have to sit all scrunched up, you can pay more and get loads more legroom. If people choose to fly long haul flights for prices that barely cover the costs,then why should they sue the airline which has simply provided that which thhey paid for?

[apache]

johnelliott said:

So the appeal went against sueing the airlines, how does that work then, you fly 12/14 hours jammed in a space the RSPCA would deem cruel for an animal, get DVT and the airline has no duty of care? How many others think this sucks?

You don't have to sit all scrunched up, you can pay more and get loads more legroom. If people choose to fly long haul flights for prices that barely cover the costs,then why should they sue the airline which has simply provided that which thhey paid for?

sorry john that sounds like tosh to me, I used to work for a company that sent me to Asia on a regular basis, to upgrade would have cost a fortune. Fair enough reduced fares have brought travel to many more people but at what cost? legroom has been sacrificed to cram more seats in, to compensate you are given a bagful of unwanted toys to play with. Anyway, whats wrong with expecting to travel without arriving dead? sounds like a reasonable expectation to me

[johnelliott]

For a dead person you seem to be posting OK. Guess you aren't dead then? Neither are the vast majority of people who have chosen to take advantage of the dirt cheap fares to faraway places. I don't suppose steerage was a very healthy place for the people who used to travel that way when the only option was ocean liners.

I reckon there must be some pretty sick lawyers, the gravy train they thought they were on just crashed

John

[CraigAlsop]

I think I'm with John on this one to some extent. The reason there is so little seatroom, is because that's what "we" the paying public want.
Most people shop around for the best price rather than the most space - space may be a "nice to have", but cost is the decider.

When flying an airliner, seat space is finite per plane - say you got an extra 10" of legroom, would you be prepared to pay an extra third on the airfare? Cos that's what that space costs. Yes many airlines charge through the nose for upper class, but Virgin for example charges pretty much pro-rata for space on the "premium economy" seats for the extra legroom.

Apache - I think that your beef should be with your company, not the airline - if they choose to put you at risk, then that's their responsibility. I also used to be a frequent traveller, various airline gold cards etc, but I found that if you had enough notice of intercontinental flights you could shop around on the web & get really good deals on business class seats (non-flexible, but loads of space)

No-one seems to notice that there are far more cases of DVT due to railway carriages, but most people have walked away from the station before things take a turn for the worse - when you exit a plane, things tend to happen while you are still waiting for luggage etc (I believe - someone correct me if I'm wrong)

[miniman]

Agree entirely with John and Craig. You could easily get DVT on a 14 hour journey across America in the back of a Nissan Micra. You could choose to buy a bigger car and avoid it. Same thing applies with cars, trains, planes, cruise ships and so on. You pays your money, you takes your choice. The only reason the cramped quarters exist in cattle class is that people want to fly to the USA for £199. That's the choice: £199 = no legroom, £999 = good legroom, £2999 = more legroom than you could ever want.

Same reason a Micra costs £9995 and a Maybach costs £250,000. Same reason you can get a first class train ticket. If you want more space and better service you have to pay for it.

I regularly have to do business trips in cattle class but that's between me and my company - it's not the airline's fault that my boss is too tight to pay for a better seat. If I really worry about it that much, I need to argue it out with the boss. There's certainly no way I would do a serious long-haul (e.g. Australia) in Economy.

[mondeoman]

Its not the legroom that causes DVT.....

Its us being too bloody fat and eating unhealthily for the majority of our lives, then sitting still for too long. FFS get up and walk around a bit - the long haul planes are big enuff to strecth your legs on.

Blame culture gone mad.

Mind you, if there is a link to oxygen quantity/carbon dioxide then the airlines would have a case to answer as they have reduced this significantly since they banned smoking on planes.

Read the facts of the case - the case was brought under the Warsaw Convention and was thrown out because DVT was not the result of an accident, the only thing they could hang the compensation on.

Yes its sad that people have died as a result of DVT, but people live and die all over the world. It happens. Live with it. Life is all about taking risks.