Hoping to avert a class action lawsuit, Alaska Airlines has proactively offered a full refund, counseling, and a $1,500 payment to every passenger onboard flight 1282, which was forced to make an emergency landing last Friday after a major technical issue shortly after takeoff.
$1,500 Compensation From Alaska Airlines To Passengers On 737 MAX 9 Flight 1282
Last Friday, a door plug detached from an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 five minutes after takeoff when the aircraft was at 16,000 feet. The detachment rapidly depressurized the cabin and left a gaping hole in the fuselage of the plane.While the California-bound flight safely diverted to Portland, Oregon, the root cause of the accident remains unclear and federal regulators have grounded 170 of these aircraft pending further inspection.
Just hours after the accident, Alaska Airlines sent a note to passengers offering:
- a full refund of their ticket cost
- $1,500 “to assist with any inconveniences”
- counseling services from Empathia
Alaska also offered impacted passengers “a complimentary upgrade for more legroom and free inflight snacks” on their new flight bookings.
Will that be enough to assuage a barrage of lawsuits in the day ahead? The Washington Post spoke to Nicholas Hoch, 33, one of the passengers on the flight:
“I haven’t fully processed if that payment is enough or not. I don’t know how this is going to affect me in the coming weeks and months, you know?
“Just think about if you went to a trauma therapist. How much does $1,500 get you? I don’t know, it’s not a lot.
“How do they calculate that stuff? How do you come up with $1,500? I … and all other passengers should have a voice in how that’s calculated.”
It is a bit too premature for me to analyze the legal stakes of this case or how strong a case passengers may have in seeking additional redress, but I do feel comfortable saying that Alaska won’t get away with $1,500 and a flight refund…or an upgrade to “Premium Class” (four more inches of legroom than the Main Cabin). The emotional distress experienced by passengers is likely quite intense and genuine in this incident.
CONCLUSION
Alaska Airlines offered $1,500 (plus a refund and counseling and rebooking help) to passengers onboard AS1282. While that is likely just a starting point, it quite a modest starting point indeed. That said, it may be that Boeing ultimately ends up paying rather than Alaska…
It’s a matter of… taking this offer now, even if some may feel it’s not enough, or wait to receive your $2.50 check in the mail after a class action lawsuit.
Attorneys think they’ll have a field day with this blowout just because the Boeing CEO cried on YouTube yesterday.
Realize Boeing handed the two Max crashes with the “scorched earth” approach.
What makes you think it will be any different!!
Also, most contracts have a mandatory “arbitration “ clause of late.
I recently got a notice from my credit union that all disputes would now be via arbitration….more to protect the CU and not the customer.
During real war in military , any lucky result resulted in relief , happiness , and a beer .
Same among pilots , firefighters , and law enforcement .
There was never anyone who cried for “compensation” and therapeutic hand-holding .
The “managers” who made this offer were themselves weak .
I agree the rush to therapy and meds culture can swung too far.
Though in the scope of wars lots of peacetime livelihoods could have been salvaged with better treatment (Vietnam war vets on the streets, ‘shell shocked’ guys from older wars). i think over magnifying experiences like this diminishes the prospect of better helping people who endure really severe, repeated trauma.
The mom and kid who came close to falling out have something to pursue.
And bone headed of Alaska to offer an ‘upgrade’ to economy plus on their next flight. Cheap – better off leaving it at the $1500 and refund. If you’re offering an upgrade, make it to the highest cabin.
The biggest inconvenience here for most of the rest of the plane was directing people to wait in line for 3 hours afterward to rebook.
That said i don’t get the sense the pax in the media are after personal jackpots. They’re after someone to give them the ‘insurance’ of therapy coverage as long as they need it to recover. Something you probably didn’t see 15 years ago.
And Alaska could minimize its settlement costs by clueing into that.
Has anyone ever complimented you for your empathy?
Yeah, they need to bury their big, scary feeling deep down like a “real man”!
This is why police and firefighters have a *checks notes* 54% higher rate of suicide than the general population. This bullshit thought process of just ignoring our problems as if we aren’t human with complex emotions.
Alaska knew there was a pressure problem. Its airworthiness was enough in question they wanted to be able to get it on the ground “very quickly”. Now if passengers were advised of this prior to boarding, and assessed their personal risk that would be one thing, but people weren’t given that choice. They thought this was an airworthy plane. It was not.
$1500 is an insult. Remember also there were children on this flight. PTSD is real and impacts some lifelong.
@Maryland … Every airliner is a contest of luck with gravity and drag . As another commenter wrote on VFTW , “skilled labor isn’t cheap ; cheap labor isn’t skilled” .
Feels pretty low imo.
See where the window seat frame in that row is bent forward? They think that’s where the top of the door plug smacked the seat hard enough to bend that 16g rated frame as it rotated out of the aircraft.
That wouldn’t have been such a neat trick if someone was sitting there.
A well formed opinion requires that I read the exact language. It’s different if a final offer compared to an almost immediate email for $1500 to cover immediate expenses with complete resolution later.
Some passengers might not have felt too much particularly way in front.
There will be lawsuits because lawyers are pitching “victims” on untold riches for only 50% of the money, plus fees.
Bottom line is no one died, and other than the 2 lost IPhones, no one lost anything. And they should be getting some Apple money for the publicity, especially the one that was still working.
Seems to me that anyone on that flight whose career depends on flying a lot (many of us here at LALF) and any of that group severely impacted by trauma and, either unable to fly or finding it highly stressful now as a result, should be entitled to a much bigger settlement and ongoing treatment. Especially if it impacts their earning potential for years. Who pays is the million dollar question. Boeing? Alaska? The Contractors?
This post seems like the reaction legal people would take on actions that AS took. Perhaps that is part of the leadership’s decision making process, but if this was being driven solely by attorneys, then they would not even have paid this out. As a quick gesture to 170 or so people who experienced this horrible event, I think AS went above what they had to. do. The ultimate underlying cause will drive to hopefully the responsible party compensating, AS is at least taking some of the interim carry of those costs on themselves vs the individuals, many of whom likely do not have significant resources. It is sad when motivation based conclusions are drawn without full facts. I am sure the corporate attorneys were part of the decision, but do not see the current basis for determining the motivations behind their decision, particularly this soon after the event.
If all 160+ passengers accept counseling, Empathia will be overwhelmed. It is a one woman social worker therapist practice. If she spends 1 hour with each patient, works 8 hours per day, passenger 160 will have to wait 1 month for an appointment assuming that the therapist sees only the airline passengers.
Her website says she is dyslexic and Latinx.
I don’t think that’s accurate. This is likely what they’re using. https://www.empathia.com/.
Makes sense, not this Empathia Counseling in Bellevue, WA, a suburb of Seattle. https://empathiacounseling.com/
If you are a passenger in a car your friend is driving and they run a stop sign and you miss getting broadsided by a cement truck by inches, do you deserve compensation?
Hundreds of people ALMOST died this year on airliners with all the incursions and pilot/ATC errors. Are they all entitled to compensation?
The victim mentality in this country is overwhelming and absurd. This was an incident not an accident and the pax are LUCKY, not victims and if they think otherwise then they have underlying mental issues to begin with.
@Mike … A near-collision in a taxi inspired Rogers and Hart for the title of “My Heart Stood Still” .
Hard to say they were fending off a lawsuit unless the offer was contingent on release of claims. Was that included?
What about all the cancelled flights? Lawsuit for everybody’s ruined vacation.
What’s counseling going to do? “Well, flying is still the safest form of travel….but you could die in a fiery crash on board.”
Maybe offer some clean under britches too.