AboutPaul D. Friedman, M.A., Ph.D., J.D. Expertise I am a licensed attorney and Judge Pro Tempore who has conducted and been involved in hundreds of mediations and thousands of arbitrations. I can answer questions regarding settlement conferences, mediations or arbitrations. I do not give legal advice over the internet and it would be helpful to list your location such as country or state.
Experience I am a licensed attorney, Judge Pro Tempore and adjunct professor.
Experience in the area I have been a licensed attorney since 1989 and a Judge Pro Tempore since 2005. Additionally, I have a masters degree in bioethics and a doctorate of philosophy regarding comparative ethics
Organizations State Bar of Arizona
State Bar of Colorado (inactive)
District of Columbia Bar (inactive)
Federal Bar
Licensed in Arizona District Court
Licensed in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Licensed in the United States Supreme Court American Bar Association National Board of Trial Advocacy
American Association for Justice Arizona Trial Lawyers Association
American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Kennedy Institute of Ethics National Association of Realtors
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Arts 1985
Juris Doctorate 1989
Master of Arts in Bioethics 2004 Doctorate of Philosphy 2006
Awards and Honors Phi Beta Kappa
Multiple Who's Who
Publications A list of my copyrighted publications and presentations is contained at WWW.EXPERTETHICS.COM
Question On March 25, 2007 we booked an 8:55pm, non stop flight from JFK in N.Y. to Rome, Italy on Alitalia Airlines. We were told the flight was cancelled because a truck hit the airplane. Some of us had started boarding the plane and were told there was a technical problem and we had to go sit in the airport.
Alitalia sent all the passengers. I think it was about 250 of us to the Ramada Inn around 11:00pm that evening. The next morning, we were told that Alitalia doesn't want it's passengers to go on the free shuttle to return to the airport. My cousin put in a 3 way call to Alitalia and I was told there was a 12pm flight to Rome, and to hurry over to the airport. We had to take a taxi to JFK, and $15. later we found out there was no 12 noon flight. Alitalia told us there was a 5:45pm flight, but it was all booked. Approximately 4pm on March 26th they told us 40 out of the 58 people that were booked to go on a cruise out of Rome would get bused to Newark, NJ to catch a flight to Paris, there we would meet the other 18 people that was flying out of JFK and we all met in Paris and boarded on another plane to Naples, Italy. All of us got to Naples, totally exhausted, to find out that Carnival didn't have transportation for us to get to the ship, so 50 euro's later we had to hire a Taxi to drive us to the ship. Everyone else did the same, they hired a taxi to get them to the port.
Is Alitalia liable to give us some restitution? Oh, I forgot to mention I called our travel insurance company (Travel Guard) and when they asked why was the flight cancelled. I told them to my knowledge that a truck hit the airplane, the woman told me it should't be covered under our insurance, but I could put in a claim and it would be reviewed. I have to get a letter from Alitalia explaining why the flight was cancelled. I called Alitalia and got a recording, (you don't get a real person to talk to) if you have a claim you have to send in your boarding passes and a million other things.
Could you please HELP US, or direct us as to where we can recoup some of our losses. We can never recoup the loss of missing a day and a half of the cruise and seeing Naples.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Sandy
Answer Sandy,
I do not give legal advice over the internet, however, it sounds like you have a valid claim. The airline is not responsible for weather or acts of god but is responsible for mechanical problems or negligent acts. You should submit a claim. If they refuse the claim, you can file a lawsuit where in the state where you purchased the tickets.
Your insurance may also cover some of the additional expenses.
