Robertson v. American Airlines

Kathleen Robertson (plaintiff) lived in Washington, D.C. and flew from there to London. Robertson had booked two possible itineraries for her return trip. For one itinerary, Robertson would fly directly from London back to Washington, D.C. on American Airlines, Inc. (American) (defendant). For the other itinerary, Robertson would leave later in the day to fly to Denver on British Airways. After a three-hour layover, Robertson would then use a separate ticket to fly on American from Denver to Chicago to Washington, D.C. Robertson decided to use the second itinerary. On the American flight from Denver to Chicago, Robertson asked a flight attendant to cool down a gel pack that Robertson wanted to use on her back. The flight attendant returned with the gel pack in a bag with some dry ice. Not understanding that the bag contained dry ice, Robertson placed the bag on her back, and the dry ice gave her third-degree burns. Almost three years later, Robertson sued American for her injuries. American moved for summary judgment, arguing that the Denver to Chicago flight was one leg of an international flight and, therefore, that the Warsaw Convention, a multination treaty governing international air travel, applied to Robertson’s claims. Because the Warsaw Convention had a two-year statute of limitations, American argued, Robertson’s claim was time-barred. In response, Robertson claimed that the Denver-to-Chicago flight was a domestic flight because it occurred entirely within the United States and involved a separate ticket and a different airline from her London-to-Denver flight. If the Denver-to-Chicago flight was considered a domestic flight, the District of Columbia’s three-year statute of limitations would apply, and Robertson’s claims would be allowed to proceed. The district court found that the flight was one part of a single, international flight series and granted summary judgment to American. Robertson appealed.