The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of the "victory" on hand luggage. Low-cost carrier Pobeda lost a lawsuit over the issue of carrying hand luggage

Illustration: Pravo.ru/Petr Kozlov

The Supreme Court considered the claim of Pobeda Airlines. The low-cost airline of the Aeroflot group demanded that a clause in the transportation rules be declared illegal hand luggage, obliging the carrier to accept on board items in excess of the 5 kg limit - backpacks, handbags, bouquets and suits in a suitcase. Passengers are being abused, regulations were adopted without taking into account technical characteristics aircraft, and there was simply nowhere to put things in the cabin, representatives of the carrier insisted.

The respondents in the dispute were the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Justice. The company demanded that clause 135 of the General Rules be declared illegal air transport passengers, baggage and cargo, approved by order of the Ministry of Transport in October 2017. The disputed clause contains a list of items that can be taken on board in excess of the free hand luggage limit, which today is 5 kg. The list included a backpack, a handbag, a bouquet of flowers, outerwear, baby food for a child during the flight, a suit in a suitcase, a device for carrying a child, medications in the amount necessary for the flight, special crutches, canes, walkers, rollators and other rehabilitation equipment, a folding wheelchair and goods purchased in duty free. Everything, with the exception of “socially significant items” - medicines, baby food, baby carriers and medical equipment - should not be transported free of charge, Pobeda believes.

is the minimum weight of hand luggage for a flight passenger. The rest is designated as "excess" carry-on baggage.

The position of the applicants, who, in addition to representatives of the air carrier itself, were represented in court by lawyer Genrikh Padva, was that the Ministry of Transport unlawfully invaded the sphere legal regulation Air Code and arbitrarily established the carrier’s obligation to accept items in excess of the free carry-on baggage allowance established by paragraphs. 2.1 clause 2 art. 106 VK and clause 133 FAP-82. Such an obligation is not provided for by federal law, Pobeda representatives insisted.

In addition, they drew the court’s attention to the fact that the contested paragraph contradicts paragraph 133 of the same rules. The carrier has mutually exclusive responsibilities: on the one hand, he must carry hand luggage, the weight and dimensions of which allow it to be safely placed in the cabin (clause 133 of FAP-82), on the other hand, he must accept items additional to hand luggage without taking into account their weight and dimensions and the ability to place them safely - with the exception of a backpack (clause 135 of FAP-82), despite the fact that given the dimensions of the aircraft this is impossible.

Meanwhile, a week before the consideration of the case, the Ministry of Transport decided to finally resolve the issue of hand luggage and presented a bill proposing to change clause 133 of the FAP. According to the bill, the text of which is published on the official portal of regulatory legal acts, it is proposed to completely eliminate the weighing of items that can be taken on board in addition to hand luggage (exceeding the 5 kg required by law), including women's handbags, briefcases, bouquets of flowers, etc. d.

In other words, it is proposed to exclude the free carriage of bags, briefcases and other things from clause 135 of the FAP as carriage “in excess of the norm” and make the transportation of these items part of this free norm for the carrier.

Back to normal free transportation Carry-on luggage is also proposed not to include the weight of a backpack, packaged goods from duty free and devices for carrying a child (baby cradle, car seat for children under 2 years old, strollers, etc.). At the same time, the carrier can limit the weight and dimensions of these items so that they can be safely placed in the cabin. So they will have to be weighed. According to the current version of the rules, if the carry-on baggage allowance is at least 5 kg, there are no exceptions for weighing.

PENALT FOR OVERBOOKING

suggested by the Ministry of Transport. It is proposed to collect fines in favor of passengers. The ministry refused to legalize overbooking.

Representatives of the Ministry of Transport petitioned to postpone the consideration of the case, citing the fact that the bill directly related to the contested provisions was under consideration. But the presiding judge rejected the petition, agreeing with the prosecutor and the applicant that this did not change the disputed circumstances.

During the hearing, the applicants again stated their position. They emphasized: in Art. 106 VK states that passengers have the right to free carry-on luggage within the limits established by the carrier in accordance with the FAP, approved on the basis of the requirements of the aircraft’s operational documentation. It was the approval of the requirements that raised the most questions.

The airline's representative, General Director Andrei Kalmykov, emphasized that no one took into account the characteristics of their aircraft, although the norms proposed by Pobeda for the volume of hand luggage are based on the recommendation presented by Boeing: things can only be placed on shelves, but not under seats, and excess standards for luggage volumes will affect both the safety and comfort of passengers. The Ministry of Transport stated that the approval of the requirements was carried out by a working group, including carriers and passengers, and was based on the “average parameters” of the aircraft. At the same time, standards for hand luggage were drawn up, taking into account the fact that things can be placed on luggage racks and under the seat in front. There is no such possibility on Pobeda aircraft. The judge’s question about how FAP should be applied to Pobeda, taking into account the balance of interests of the parties, remained unanswered.

Only you have problems, other carriers have no complaints,” representatives of the Ministry of Transport indicated.

“Only we have such a dense layout of the aircraft,” Andrei Kalmykov objected.

“We proceeded from the fact that some things cannot be weighed, but they may be needed during the flight, before or after, a bouquet is for romantics, outerwear is for running to the ramp in cold weather,” explained a representative of the Ministry of Transport and emphasized that the decision was based on the list compulsory subjects - collegiate.

But Pobeda didn’t think so. Representatives of Pobeda suggested refusing the bouquet, citing possible allergies of the passengers. “Passengers must warn in advance about health problems,” a representative of the Ministry of Transport objected.

One of the most important criteria of a legislative act is certainty. It had to be formulated so that it could be interpreted unambiguously. Clause 135 of the FPA can be interpreted in any way you like.

If we talk about the balance between passenger convenience and traffic safety, the priority is safety, and it is not met under these standards. This rule is harmful to both the carrier and citizens.

Also in Pobeda they complained that the sizes of a handbag or briefcase are not regulated anywhere, in a briefcase, the size of which is not inferior to a luggage bag, you can carry a lot of clothes, and there is no way to control this, and the clause regarding the free transportation of outerwear leads to abuses, for example on Italian flights. “Passengers carry three fur coats, citing the fact that these are outerwear,” Kalmykov was indignant. The question of outerwear caused a heated discussion: the airline representative had to separately explain: no one will take into account the clothes that the passenger is wearing: no one weighs them anyway. “If it’s a passenger’s clothes, no one is against it, but today’s standards allow you to carry additional things. We are in favor of establishing clear and understandable rules. And for socially significant things, we have a separate shelf, and if space runs out, we will transport everything to you for free. cargo compartment, the passenger must warn about this 24 hours in advance,” Andrei Kalmykov convinced the court.

The Ministry of Transport said that they encountered the problem of additional outerwear for the first time and are “ready for dialogue.”

To nullify abuses on all sides is an impossible task; all issues that arise in practice must be resolved by the participants in the situation,” noted a representative of the Ministry of Transport.

Why not indicate to the FAP that we must proceed from the carrier’s standards? The carrier needs at least minimal tools to control hand luggage, Pobeda objected.

The representative of the Ministry of Justice supported the position of the Ministry of Transport, while recognizing that the requirements of the FAP should be developed in accordance with Art. 106 VK.

Nevertheless, after listening to the arguments of the parties, he refused to satisfy Pobeda’s demands. Heinrich Padva said that Pobeda will likely challenge the decision made by the Supreme Court. The general director of the airline, Andrei Kalmykov, said that if the decision does come into legal force, the airline will have to look for a way out, for example, placing hand luggage “in excess of the norm” in luggage, since it is not physically possible to place it on the shelves - it is unsafe. As a result, this may also affect the cost of air tickets.

News, 17:21 08/07/2018

© Alexander Demyanchuk/TASS

Context

MOSCOW, August 7 – RAPSI.

In October 2017, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation approved changes to the rules for the carriage of hand luggage on airplanes: airlines were able to establish a free baggage allowance (at least 5 kg - approx. ed.), but they were required to allow passengers to take on board a handbag or briefcase, a bouquet of flowers, outerwear, baby food, suits in a suitcase, child seats, medicines, crutches and canes, as well as duty free goods without being weighed.

Representatives of the airline asked the court to partially invalidate paragraph 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations." General rules air transportation of passengers, baggage, cargo and requirements for servicing passengers, shippers, consignees." In the claims, Pobeda asked the court not to limit the carrying of "social" luggage: medicines, cradles, crutches and walking canes.

The low-cost airline wants to use different rules: the airline allows you to take on board only luggage that fits in a special calibrator measuring 36x30x27 cm, and it offers to check in all other things as checked baggage for an additional fee. The carrier pays attention only to the size of the items, and not to the weight. Pobeda's lawyers ask the court to partially cancel this clause of the rules, and the administrative defendants - the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Justice - to develop a different procedure for carrying hand luggage, to define and structure "dimensionless" personal belongings.

Safety first

The general director of the low-cost airline, Andrey Kalmykov, took part in the court hearing. According to him, Pobeda turned to aircraft manufacturer Boeing for advice on establishing the size of safe carry-on luggage. The aircraft manufacturer calculated the size of the calibrator based on the ability to carry 189 passengers, since the carrier operates only one type of aircraft: the Boeing 737-800.

The airline’s position was expressed by lawyer Heinrich Padva: “These points don’t seem to sound very serious. The point is that they do not ensure the safety of passengers’ flights. The law repeatedly states the wording “within normal limits.” And in paragraph 135 we have a whole list items without limiting their allowance. Passengers who enter the cabin first completely fill all luggage compartments. For our safety, the airline wants to limit the size of hand luggage so that things do not fly around the cabin during turbulence.”

Representatives of the airline have repeatedly noted that the goal of the low-cost airline is not to profit from passengers, but to ensure safety in the aircraft cabin. “All luggage space on the plane is given to customers free of charge, we are not trying to make money, but want to restore order,” Kalmykov added. Lawyers for the airline believe that a number of items of hand luggage are not clearly defined and the court may recognize even a briefcase with straps as a woman's bag.

Flowers and fur coats

Representatives of the plaintiffs, in support of their claims, brought a calibrator into the courtroom - a blue metal box with a high "back" - and showed the court the "absurd" amount of things that a passenger can take on board without a weight limit. The head of the airline placed several business bags, suitcases with suits and bouquets of flowers next to the meter to demonstrate to the court the possible abuse of the rules by passengers.

The plaintiffs also expressed their negative attitude towards the ability of passengers to take bouquets of flowers on board due to the air circulation device and the unsafe flight of passengers with allergies, and also noted the cunning of passengers flying for shopping.

“Our company flies to the suburbs of Milan, and people take three fur coats with them into the cabin and at check-in they say that this is hand luggage. We have to transport it in the cabin,” said the head of the airline. The administrative defendant argued that it was impossible to limit the possibility of carrying outerwear in the cabin, since Pobeda does not use the passage through the “sleeve” from the airport buildings, and people are often outside in sub-zero temperatures.

Defendant's position

During court session Representatives of the Ministry of Transport stated that the rules being appealed would be changed to establish legal certainty, but they asked the court to refuse to satisfy the airline’s demands. According to the department, the airline wants to increase fees from passengers, and does not care about the safety of transportation. The agency is developing a draft amendment to the contested rules, according to which the provisions of paragraph 135 will be moved to another paragraph of the document and subsequently edited.

MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. The Supreme Court (SC) of Russia rejected the claim of Pobeda Airlines, demanding a partial abolition of the rules for the carriage of hand luggage, which allow a passenger to take flowers, a backpack, a handbag and some other things into the cabin in excess of the 5 kg limit, a TASS correspondent reports.

“The airline’s claim must be rejected,” reads the court’s decision. The defendants in the lawsuit were the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Transport.

As stated by Pobeda CEO Andrei Kalmykov and lawyer Genrikh Padva, the airline will appeal the decision. “We, of course, will appeal this decision, since we see the unenforceability of such rules,” Kalmykov said. “But if the decision comes into force, then after the appeal we will be forced to reconsider our rules.” According to him, “the aircraft turnover schedule will change,” which will lead to an increase in ticket prices.

According to the lawyer, the company will appeal the court's decision to the appellate instance.

Litigation in the case began in the spring. The airline, after changing the legislation on the carriage of hand luggage and introducing mandatory free carriage of at least 5 kg of luggage, introduced its own rules: they are not tied to the weight of luggage, but limit the dimensions to 36x30x27 centimeters in three dimensions.

In April, Pobeda lost a court case with the prosecutor's office regarding compliance with paragraph 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. According to this clause, passengers, in addition to the established free baggage allowance, can take on board a hand bag, a backpack, a bouquet of flowers, baby food, outerwear, a suit in a suitcase, medicines, a device for carrying a child, canes, crutches as hand luggage. , walkers, wheelchairs, rollators and goods purchased in duty free stores. In May, Pobeda filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation demanding that the new rules for carrying hand luggage on airplanes, which were adopted in the fall of 2017, be partially invalidated.

Pobeda asked to remove a handbag, a backpack, a bouquet of flowers, and a suit in a briefcase from the list of free items for carriage, leaving all other items on the list. At the same time, a bag, backpack and other things are allowed for free transportation if they correspond to the dimensions specified by the company. The Ministry of Transport insisted on postponing the consideration of the case. According to its representatives, the department is now developing another bill that will transfer the entire list from FAP-135 to FAP-133.

In addition to Kalmykov and Padva, the head of the legal department, Alexey Tankevich, spoke on the side of Pobeda in court. The airline based its claim on the fact that allowing excess carry-on luggage threatens the safety of passengers.

During the court hearing, representatives of Pobeda, for clarity, while explaining their demands to cancel the free carriage of some items, demonstrated a calibrator for determining the dimensions of luggage. Kalmykov, proving the company’s position, explained that the low-cost airline ordered a special study from Boeing (TASS has a copy of it), in which the manufacturer came to the conclusion that for safe transportation 189 passengers on board (maximum load of the Pobeda aircraft), each passenger can put one piece of hand luggage measuring 36x30x27 cm in three dimensions on the top shelf.

At the same time, Kalmykov noted, Pobeda cannot ask the passenger to stow his hand luggage under the seat in front: the layout of the aircraft is as tight as possible and there is only room under the seat for the passenger’s legs. “The design of our specific aircraft is such that the layout of the aircraft is made taking into account maximum density. We use so-called thin seats to transport as much as possible large quantity passengers. The legroom is 29 inches. It’s very small, so there’s no space for hand luggage downstairs,” he said.

Kalmykov also added that with the existing rules he cannot ensure the safety of passengers. Moreover, Kalmykov said during the meeting that the current requirements for hand luggage were developed without taking into account the passenger capacity of aircraft and their types. According to him, now the requirements are the same for both narrow-body aircraft and wide-body long-haul aircraft.

In turn, lawyers from the Ministry of Transport told the court that the rules were developed in agreement with the airline and taking into account passenger complaints. “When authorizing the carriage of a list of things in excess of the norm, it was taken into account that some things cannot be weighed, while others are essential items during the flight,” the lawyer noted.

The Prosecutor General's Office supported the Ministry of Transport in court, considering that the disputed paragraph of the rules complied with the law. The court decision has not yet entered into force and can be appealed.

The low-cost airline demanded the abolition of the rule on free transportation of handbags.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court considered the lawsuit of the low-cost airline Pobeda against the Ministry of Transport: the airline demanded to cancel the clause of the federal aviation rules on free transportation in addition to hand luggage (minimum 5 kg per passenger) of handbags, briefcases, suitcases, bouquets of flowers, outerwear and backpacks.

This clause imposes unlimited obligations on airlines, Pobeda believes. The rules of the low-cost airline are different: you can take into the cabin for free everything that fits in a calibrator 36x30x27 cm; such luggage, according to the Boeing company, can be placed on the luggage racks of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft (Pobeda has 20 of them) configured for 189 passengers, he said Pobeda general director Andrei Kalmykov is in court. The rest must be checked in as luggage and paid for.

The prosecutor's office demands that Pobeda comply with federal regulations and carry all the items on the list for free in the cabin.

Kalmykov and Pobeda lawyer Alexey Tankevich brought a calibrator and samples of things from the mandatory list to the court to show that the rules are impossible to implement: it is impossible to place them in the cabin of a low-cost airline without violating safety requirements. The layout of the seats is as dense as possible, the chairs are thin, there is no room for things under them, Kalmykov assured. And Tankevich warned that flowers are a strong allergen, and there is a limited amount of air on the plane.

Pobeda hired lawyer Heinrich Padva for the trial, his fee was up to 40,000 rubles. per hour of work. The disputed clause does not limit the size and weight of additional items, and therefore contradicts another clause of the rules, which gives the right to carry free hand luggage that fits in the calibrator, Padva said. It often happens that the first passengers to enter fill the luggage racks, Padva argued, and the next ones simply have nowhere to put their things, they are forced to hold them in their hands; with any turbulence, things will fly around the cabin. It is not clear why the Ministry of Transport does not agree with this, the lawyer concluded.

If you follow the rules, then Pobeda will have to put things in luggage during boarding, which will increase the turnaround time of planes by at least 30%, Kalmykov wrote to Minister of Transport Evgeny Dietrich in July: this will destroy the business model of the low-cost airline and will force Pobeda to develop as a classic airline with appropriate fares.

Items from the disputed list are difficult to weigh, but they are needed for a comfortable flight, which is why they were assigned above the norm, Svetlana Tonkikh, a representative of the Ministry of Transport, said in court.

Air Code requires taking into account performance characteristics aircraft when drawing up the rules for transporting things in the cabin, Kalmykov said, and asked whether the Ministry of Transport took into account the characteristics of the Boeing 737-800 specifically? Judge Yuri Ivannikov asked the same question. Representatives of the Ministry of Transport Tonkikh and Ekaterina Sukharnikova avoided answering this question several times, but in the end Sukharnikova said that they had taken into account not specific types, but all aircraft. “From An-2 to Boeing 747,” Kalmykov quipped. Officials said that the Air Code requirement to take into account the characteristics of the aircraft was a technical error. “This is your opinion,” Kalmykov objected, “but the Air Code has absolute priority over federal aviation regulations.”

Judge Yuri Ivannikov spent a long time asking representatives of the Ministry of Transport where to transport things in the cabin if they do not fit on the shelves? How can we prevent passengers from abusing this provision and violating the rights of other passengers to berths? They can be placed on shelves, Sukharnikova insisted, and controversial everyday issues can somehow be resolved on the spot. But how can a carrier place things if there is no space? The judge wondered. There is always room on the luggage racks, the official did not give up.

The course of the trial seemed to be in favor of the low-cost airline, but Judge Ivannikov, returning from the deliberation room, announced that he had denied Pobeda’s claim.

The decision will come into force after the preparation of the motivation part. Kalmykov said that it would be appealed to the appeal board of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court of Russia, which considered the claim of Pobeda Airlines regarding changes in the rules for the carriage of hand luggage, sided with consumers, not the carrier. As a result, passengers retained the right to bring bags, backpacks, and briefcases into the aircraft cabin in excess of the established carry-on baggage allowance of 5 kg. “Victory”, however, does not give up and promises to appeal the decision made by the Supreme Court.

The case began with an order from the Ministry of Transport, which came into force in November 2017: the department considered that when checking in for a flight there is no need to weigh handbags or briefcases, taking them outside the scope of the term “carry-on luggage.” Pobeda did not agree with this opinion. Representatives of the company pointed out, in particular, that the presence of bags and backpacks could affect safety, and also that the Ministry of Transport, when making its decision, did not take into account the passenger capacity of the aircraft.

The airline's general director, Andrei Kalmykov, justifying Pobeda's objections in court, said that the carrier ordered an expert study from Boeing and received the following conclusion: in order to safely transport 189 passengers (this is the maximum load of aircraft that Pobeda uses) , each passenger can take with him one piece of hand luggage measuring 36x30x27 cm in three dimensions. Moreover, this hand luggage should only be on top shelf. It is impossible to remove it under the seat in front.

“The design of our specific aircraft is as follows, - Mr. Kalmykov explained, - that the layout of the aircraft is made taking into account maximum density. We use so-called thin seats to carry as many passengers as possible. The space for the distance is 29 inches. It’s very small, so there’s no room for hand luggage downstairs.”.

On this moment, let us remind you that the following rules apply for transporting things in the aircraft cabin.

A passenger, regardless of the type of ticket with which he is traveling (refundable, non-refundable, with luggage, without luggage), has the right to take hand luggage weighing up to 5 kilograms into the aircraft cabin. Some airlines allow more weight.

In addition to this established norm, a passenger can carry with him a handbag, a men's briefcase or backpack (the weight and dimensions of the backpack are determined by the carrier), a briefcase, outerwear, baby food and a stroller, a bouquet of flowers, as well as medicines.

Phones, books, cameras, laptops can only be brought into the cabin if they are hidden in hand luggage.

In addition, the passenger can bring duty-free purchases into the cabin for free - but in accordance with the dimensions and weight restrictions that each airline sets independently.