Man Sues Airlines for Obese Wife's Death

In a tale of tragedy and PR disaster that almost certainly could have been avoided, a grieving Bronx husband just announced plans to sue Delta, KLM and Lufthansa airlines for millions. Earlier this year, the three carriers each claimed to be unable to provide seating to his wife Vilma, who died in Europe while awaiting a return flight to New York. The couple planned to go home to the States after a European vacation so Vilma could resume treatment for diabetes and kidney disease; she weighed approximately 425 pounds at the time of her death. The couple flew to their native Hungary via Delta and KLM “without incident” in September after Vilma apparently boarded two planes “with the help of an airlift…and a seatbelt extender”. Husband Janos now claims that airline reps in Europe “asked about return flights so [they] could make proper arrangements” and that he purchased two separate seats on the way back to accommodate his wife. And yet, the couple’s lawyer says that the very same KLM Airlines forced the pair to de-plane in Budapest "due to an issue with a seat back" and urged them to drive to Prague, where a second pilot ordered Vilma from his plane after “they put her on the seat and they couldn't belt her in”. The two then drove to Frankfurt only to be denied service by Lufthansa reps, who voiced concerns over passenger safety when Vilma “didn't fit in a three-seat gap”; she died of kidney failure in Hungary two days later. A Delta rep told ABC News that the airline simply couldn’t seat Vilma “Despite a determined good-faith effort”; the husband’s attorney claims that his client “wants to know why his wife had to die because the airlines simply didn't want to be inconvenienced." We're not sure the story is so simple. This is a truly horrific case with no simple solution, but we do see evidence of a clear communications problem. The incident was highly unorthodox, but shouldn’t service providers who offer transfers at the same international airports establish very clear lines of communication for incidents requiring unconventional approaches? And shouldn’t the airline industry develop some universal customer service policies? How did these co-dependent providers allow Vilma to fly overseas but fail to seat her on a return flight despite “time-consuming attempts” to do so? Sounds like a story unclear to all but those who know the details. Who’s really to blame? And how can Delta and KLM spin the negative headlines away?

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Man Sues Airlines for Obese Wife's Death

Patrick Coffee

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