Man Sues American Airlines After 14-Hour Flight Next To Obese Passengers

Falling perfectly in line with ongoing news of recent airline scandals, an Australian traveler is reportedly suing American Airlines for putting him in a window seat next to two obese passengers on a 14-hour flight. Michael Anthony Taylor, 67, said the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles left him with permanent neck and back problems.

The flight occurred on Dec. 28, 2015, however, a new suit has been filed against American Airlines in Australia’s Federal Court as a result of the incident.

Speaking with the Daily Telegraph, Taylor said that airline officials wouldn’t allow him to move seats, describing his seating arrangement for most of the flight as “crouching, kneeling, bracing or standing.” Taylor suffers scoliosis, and the uncomfortable squeeze allegedly left Taylor with bruises on his neck as well as pain in his upper and lower back.

Read: Delta Air Lines Breaks Silence After Kicking Family With Babies Off Flight

Taylor is reportedly suing American Airlines, though he told the Telegraph that he doesn’t blame his seatmates, as they’d purchased tickets.

“I don’t hold any malice towards the people in the seats next to me — they’d paid for a ticket too,” he said. “The airline could have put me in a crew seat or moved people around but they did nothing.”

According to reports, the 310-seat flight was full and there weren’t any other seats open aboard the Boeing 777 to which Taylor could be moved. According to a spokesperson for the airline, United States federal regulations do not allow passengers to sit in jump seats.

The complaint comes amid ongoing complaints about the airline’s shrinking legroom. American Airlines announced last week that it was planning to shrink the space between seats from 31 inches to 29 inches. Taylor’s lawyer said he hoped that the lawsuit would spark a conversation about space allotted to passengers aboard aircraft and lead to more comfortable accommodations.

“If Michael is successful, this throws open the doors to potentially a large amount of cases against airlines and how they’ve designed their seating and how they seat passengers,” Taylor’s lawyer Thomas Janson told Telegraph. “There will be a huge outcry against the way airlines furnish their cabins, particularly in economy.”

American Airlines told International Business Times in a statement, "We just received the lawsuit and we are reviewing the allegations.”