Singapore Airlines offers passengers $10,000 for minor injuries and $25,000 for major injuries incurred on a flight with air turbulence.

Turbulence Kills Passenger on Singapore Airlines London Flight

The Montreal Convention caps compensation for death and personal physical injury at about $170,000 on international flights and at about $7,000 for passenger delay and $1,700 for baggage delay on a no fault basis. So these amounts are well within the compensation limits. To exceed these limits, a passenger must prove willful misconduct by the airline, a very rare occurrence.

Passengers can sue the airline to potentially receive higher compensation within the Montreal compensation limits.

This offer accordingly can be viewed as a first offer and should in our view not be accepted unless it does not require a waiver of additional liability.

This is an attempt to resolve claim’s pre litigation and perhaps lead to better instructions to avoid injuries from air turbulence. That would include keeping seat belts loosely fastened even when seat belt sign is off, stricter enforcement of seat belt rules, and better warnings of possible air turbulence by flight crews.

Passengers should consult with counsel before accepting airline compensation offers. Airlines concerned with reputational risks should err on the side extra precautions to prevent injury from air turbulence.