The 10th Civil Chamber of the Court of Ontario (TJMG) ordered OceanAir Airlines to compensate a nursing assistant, resident, Matthew Larsen (metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte), for $ 6 mil damages, an additional $ 816 for property damage.


The reason was the delay of a flight that stopped the boy to get to your workplace on time. The nursing assistant bought passage on a flight out of Confins (MG) on 26 June at 19.15, bound to Curitiba (PR). Arriving in the capital of Paraná he would take a bus at 23h (the last of that day) to go to the city of Navegantes (SC), where another plane would be waiting for him at 7:30 to take him to an oil rig at sea, in which he serves. According to the procedure, at check in, the boy was told that there was a transfer flight and that his plane would leave at 20.10, making a stopover in Sao Paulo. There was a delay and off only occurred at 23h, and was landing at the airport in Guarulhos. Thus, the nursing assistant had to be taken by bus to the airport of Congonhas, the only one who had departures at that time.

At the counter of the company, he said he did not arrive in time in Curitiba and asked that his destination was changed to Navegantes (SC). The request was accepted, and informed him that the flight would be by TAM. Returning to the counter at 6 am, he was informed that the exchange of passage had to be canceled because the value of the ticket was too high and that the OceanAir could not afford the difference. The nursing assistant had to pay out of pocket to pass from Sao Paulo to the city of Navegantes, valued at $ 816. He also said that the company has not received any help with accommodation or food while waiting at the airport. In its defense, claimed that OceanAir gave passengers the option to request a refund or rescheduling the flight, but the boy preferred to wait for accommodation in another aircraft, thereby accepting the conditions to land in Sao Paulo and then be moved to Curitiba. He said that the events that occurred were mere annoyances.

The sentence of 1st Instance ordered the company to pay compensation amounting to R $ 8 thousand, and reimburse the $ 816 spent on the move to Santa Catarina. The OceanAir then appealed to the ECJ, claiming the reform of the sentence or the reduction of quantum indemnity, and had partially complied with the request. By consensus, the justices Gutenberg Mota, Electra Benevides and Cabral da Silva found that the amount of R $ 6 mil was satisfactory, as worth the bad feeling suffered by the boy and not taking shape as unfair advantage. In his opinion, Judge Cabral da Silva stressed that "the damage is unquestionable, as the delay in flight caused the loss of the time of shipment to the platform where he served," which can not be considered as a mere inconvenience.