Could Court Ruling Lead to Banning of Hot Beverages on European Flights?

Imagine taking a flight and not being able to enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea or even hot chocolate.

That could soon become a reality overseas after a recent court ruling by the European Union.

As Forbes writer James Asquith so astutely pointed out, the ruling by the EU Court of Justice that an airline is “liable for the harm caused by a spilled cup of hot coffee” has opened Pandora’s Box about whether carriers will continue to serve hot drinks and open themselves up to further litigation.

Asquith called the ruling on a case of a passenger on a budget Austrian carrier suffering a spilled beverage ‘vague and broad in nature.’

And precedent-setting.

If turbulence—a common occurrence on flights—causes a hot drink to spill, airlines might consider not taking the risk of serving such beverages at all if passengers now have the potential to sue for monetary damages.

The EU’s legal definition of an accident “covers all situations occurring on board an aircraft in which an object used when serving passengers has caused bodily injury to a passenger, without it being necessary to examine whether those situations stem from a hazard typically associated with aviation.”

The case smacks of the landmark 1992 decision in Albuquerque when 79-year-old Stella Liebeck bought a cup of coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru and spilled it on her lap. She sued McDonald’s and a jury awarded her nearly $3 million in punitive damages for the burns she suffered.