Stone v. Continental Airlines

*812OPINION OF THE COURT

Diane A. Lebedeff, J.

This matter brings up a bread-and-butter airline issue — the measure of damages governing the claims of passengers “bumped” from domestic airline flights — an issue rarely explored in detail notwithstanding that more than 30,000 passengers a year could raise similar claims, as permitted by federal statute and regulations (Airline Deregulation Act [ADA], 49 USC § 41713; 14 CFR part 250).

This case has simple facts. Claimant Thatcher A. Stone, a partner in a New York law firm and a lecturer in aviation and airline industry law at the University of…