Who picks up the bill?

[Say Cheese]

Hi all,

Hope i'm posting in the right place.

I was recently on a flight where there was a medical emergency on board. Now the flight continued on to it's original destination rather than diverting and the passenger who had fallen ill was ok.

My question is, had the flight diverted, who picks up the bill? I guess there is extra fuel to be used, landing fees at an alternative airport and the knock on delays to take into account.
Do the airline swallow the cost and put it down to a 'calculated risk' that if you are transporting passengers it could happen or do they bill the passenger who fell ill who I guess can then claim on insurance?

Thanks for your responses in advance.

[sicamore]

They should swallow the cost. I can't imagine them charging a passenger for the cost of diverting a 747 and putting all the pax up for the night in a hotel and getting away with that in a court of law.

But I've been wrong before on the morals of airline management :rolleyes:

[TightSlot]

Airline pays - It's one of the costs of doing business

But I've been wrong before on the morals of airline management

Who are apparently to be maligned whichever course of action they take?

:{

[sicamore]

>Who are apparently to be maligned whichever course of action they take?

That is the career of management for you. Sh!t rolls up hill. All the glory if everything succeeds, all the weight if it fails (excluding golden parachute F500 ceo's of course ;-)

[Say Cheese]

Thanks people.
I suspected it might be the airline that picks up the bill but wasn't sure.

[Torque Tonight]

However if a passenger is blameworthy (disruptive behaviour in flight for example) and a diversion results, many airlines would pursue the passenger for costs, and rightly so.

[L'aviateur]

In the cruise industry, passengers are requested to get insurance which covers medical evacuation/diversion, if they don't they are forced to sign a waiver.
When medical evacuations occur, signatures are required from the person being evacuated or their companion at the time of evacuation clarifying that costs will be borne by them. The cruiselines do actually attempt to recover the costs as well.

[PAXboy]

My guess is that a large part of this will be historical precedent. Also, cruise ships have mini-hospitals and (usually) qualified doctors and nurses or para-medics onboard which makes a huge difference. Secondly, they can sometimes have a helicopter casevac, which is easier and cheaper than a divert.