What’s Fair Compensation For Flying Near A Corpse?

The media loves an airline disaster tale, so the sad story of the man who choked on an in-flight meal 90 minutes into a Singapore-Auckland flight was always going to get massive coverage. What’s of interest from a broader travel perspective is how Jetstar has handled the scenario, offering $100 vouchers to passengers who were seated nearby. Is that enough compensation?

My take: yes, it probably is. The human reality is that people die. Flying in the same cabin as a corpse wouldn’t be fun, but in the grand scheme of unpleasant human experience it still rates pretty low on the scale. I think compensation is a sensible gesture, but I’m not sure it’s reasonable to expect thousands of dollars to be flung at every passenger in the vicinity, or to turn the flight around once it was clear nothing could be done for the dead man.

But I’m a tough-minded type and I also like my flights to arrive on time. How do you think the situation should be handled? Tell us in the comments.

Jetstar offers passengers $100 compensation for flying with dead man [The Australian]


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