Emirates Airlines case(I did win it in small claims court already)

[yprudhvi]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

Hello there,

I have had trouble with Emirates airlines last year while travelling from IAD-HYD(Washington to Hyderabad,India).

As this happened in the jurisdiction of Washington, I did file a case in small claims court in a DC, did win the case after a couple of court appearances. However I have not received any payment from Emirates yet.

Can you guys help me in finding a way to take it to next level court, this being a civil court I am unable to garner enough information on how to move forward.


Thanks.

 

[Zigner]

Did they actually show up in court? I suspect that you didn't file in the correct jurisdiction and that they are simply ignoring you.

 

[yprudhvi]

Did they actually show up in court? I suspect that you didn't file in the correct jurisdiction and that they are simply ignoring you.

Emirates representative did not show up in the court, I(Court) have sent out notice to CT Corporation Systems(registered agent for Emirates) and CT Corp Systems replied saying that they don't represent Emirates anymore (How ever they still do represent Emirates as per the information from DCRA website).

Based on the above information and after taking a close look at all my evidences, the judgement was in favor of me.

I have contacted the small claims court folks and as it happened in IAD airport, they mentioned that it falls under DC jurisdiction. So I did drive from Raleigh to DC for all the court dates.

 

[FlyingRon]

While Dulles is not in DC (it's in Virginia), Ethiad maintains their official US office in DC (at an address that appears to be the law offices of Fleishman and Walsh).

 

[FlyingRon]

I have contacted the small claims court folks and as it happened in IAD airport, they mentioned that it falls under DC jurisdiction. So I did drive from Raleigh to DC for all the court dates.

I don't know who you talked to but IAD is *NOT* in the jurisdiction of Washington DC. When the federal government transferred Dulles and National to the regional authority (MWAA), it was enacted that the Commonwealth of Virginia's courts are the venue for all actions.

You can likely have sued Ethiad because of their DC registered agent/office however.

 

[Zigner]

As the flight was an international flight, it's entirely possible that small claims isn't the proper venue at all.

Why are you suing?

 

[yprudhvi]

I don't know who you talked to but IAD is *NOT* in the jurisdiction of Washington DC. When the federal government transferred Dulles and National to the regional authority (MWAA), it was enacted that the Commonwealth of Virginia's courts are the venue for all actions.

You can likely have sued Ethiad because of their DC registered agent/office however.

This is the reason I have sued Emirates, they have their office in DC so do their registered agent(CT Corporation)

Thanks for your quick replies guys!

 

[yprudhvi]

As the flight was an international flight, it's entirely possible that small claims isn't the proper venue at all.

Why are you suing?

Tickets were purchased with Emirates Airlines for travel dates of 12/17/2013 to 1/7/2014. My first leg of flight was delayed/cancelled and I had to miss the connection.
I was rebooked for the whole trip and with my inbound reservation still being the same.

However, without any notification Emirates has cancelled my inbound flight(scheduled on 1/7/2014) though I was rebooked for it. Due to this, I had to purchase separate ticket with a different airlines for whopping price and lost an extra load of money as outbound was booked 2 days late than my initial planned departure date.

The reason for first leg cancellation was not weather or me, it was a mistake on the airlines part. I have tried to reach out to emirates several times but in vain.

 

[Mark Maroon]

I did file a case in small claims court in a DC, did win the case after a couple of court appearances. However I have not received any payment from Emirates yet.

Can you guys help me in finding a way to take it to next level court, this being a civil court I am unable to garner enough information on how to move forward.

Let's assume that you have a valid judgment against a company. You then need to collect on your judgment. It's unlikely that they are simply going to pay you. The court (small claims or the "next level court") won't collect your judgment for you. You have to figure out how to collect your judgment (using the proper court procedures). If the airline has a bank account in the US, then you can garnish it if you can find it (and if DC small claims courts allow such a process). I heard that someone once filed a lien against an airline and then had a sheriff go and attach an airplane at the airport (like having the sheriff take possession of a car). But that could just be an old wives tale (or an old collection tale).

 

[FlyingRon]

Ah, so you have a decision that was almost certainly issued in error and it will not stand up anywhere. International flights are covered by treaty and solely in the realm of federal courts.
Your small claims decision is worthless. However, you might try taking the court documents and sending it to the Ethiad DC office (1400 16th st NW, suite 600). As I previously stated, this is actually an attorney's office. They may give you your claim just to shut you up, it's worth a try.

Note however, that delayed / rescheduled flights are generally not going to be compensable. Sorry but it happens.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

There actually was a situation where a couple won a judgment against a bank, were ignored and with the sheriff in tow, attached the assets at one of their branches. That said, I doubt OP's judgment will stand up to an appeal due to terms of carriage and OP will be encouraged by the airline to waste as much of his own money chasing them, before they get one of their own lawyers involved to appeal the judgment and have it overturned. FAA regulations will prohibit him from attaching an in service airplane. Think of our Korean nut princess. Or should I have said the the nutty Korean Airline princess and all the fines they received.

 

[yprudhvi]

Alright guys, let me try to explain all the case in a single post to clear off everything.


Tickets were purchased with Emirates Airlines for travel dates of 12/17/2013 to 1/7/2014. I had a connection(second leg) in IAD to JFK and it was cancelled.

I was re-booked for the whole trip in IAD with my inbound reservation still being the same, though my outbound reservation was moved to 12/19/2013.

I was outbound using this reservation, however on 1-1-2014 I have realized that my inbound reservation was cancelled(I was checking their website and found it out). I called up emirates and jetblue(code share with emirates) after about 40 hours of discussion with them found out that it was a mistake on emirates to drop the reservation(They were supposed to hold the reservation since it was re-booked and the agent didn't hold it)

So I had to pay for a new ticket(I needed to show up for my job here in Raleigh) with different airlines as emirates couldn't offer me a reservation until 1-23-2014 as they were booked through then.


After coming back to states on 1-11-2014, I have talked to emirates customer service and they were of little help as the ticket was non refundable and part of it was used also no one was able to answer to why I was dropped off the inbound flight.

After realizing the talking to emirates wouldn't help me in moving forward, I have opened up a dispute with American Express(card used to purchase the tickets), they were of little help as the merchant was located outside united states.

Then I came to know about small claims court and filed a claim there and did come out with a judgement. The judge mailed a copy of the judgement to emirates as well and this is where I am right now. Judgement in small claims was delivered on 11-14-2014


I am trying to see if this can be a case in appeals or any relevant court.

 

[Zigner]

Alright guys, let me try to explain all the case in a single post to clear off everything.


Tickets were purchased with Emirates Airlines for travel dates of 12/17/2013 to 1/7/2014. I had a connection(second leg) in IAD to JFK and it was cancelled.

I was re-booked for the whole trip in IAD with my inbound reservation still being the same, though my outbound reservation was moved to 12/19/2013.

I was outbound using this reservation, however on 1-1-2014 I have realized that my inbound reservation was cancelled(I was checking their website and found it out). I called up emirates and jetblue(code share with emirates) after about 40 hours of discussion with them found out that it was a mistake on emirates to drop the reservation(They were supposed to hold the reservation since it was re-booked and the agent didn't hold it)

So I had to pay for a new ticket(I needed to show up for my job here in Raleigh) with different airlines as emirates couldn't offer me a reservation until 1-23-2014 as they were booked through then.


After coming back to states on 1-11-2014, I have talked to emirates customer service and they were of little help as the ticket was non refundable and part of it was used also no one was able to answer to why I was dropped off the inbound flight.

After realizing the talking to emirates wouldn't help me in moving forward, I have opened up a dispute with American Express(card used to purchase the tickets), they were of little help as the merchant was located outside united states.

Then I came to know about small claims court and filed a claim there and did come out with a judgement. The judge mailed a copy of the judgement to emirates as well and this is where I am right now. Judgement in small claims was delivered on 11-14-2014


I am trying to see if this can be a case in appeals or any relevant court.

See post #10 (by FlyingRon).

 

[yprudhvi]

See post #10 (by FlyingRon).

I will try to reach them out and keep you guys posted, thanks everyone for their time.

 

[FlyingRon]

There actually was a situation where a couple won a judgment against a bank, were ignored and with the sheriff in tow, attached the assets at one of their branches. That said, I doubt OP's judgment will stand up to an appeal due to terms of carriage and OP will be encouraged by the airline to waste as much of his own money chasing them, before they get one of their own lawyers involved to appeal the judgment and have it overturned. FAA regulations will prohibit him from attaching an in service airplane. Think of our Korean nut princess. Or should I have said the the nutty Korean Airline princess and all the fines they received.

Well, since Emirates almost certainly has ZERO assets in DC, you'd have to get the judgement domesticated in Virginia or somewhere that they actually have assets. Further to get past the ticket counter is going to take a federal action again. That's presuming that Ethiad actually owns their aircraft. They seem to lease a lot of them from other entities.