Lin Zhang v. Air China Ltd.

866 F. Supp. 2d 1162, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54565, 2012 WL 1355676
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedApril 17, 2012
DocketNo. C 11-06724 SI
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 866 F. Supp. 2d 1162 (Lin Zhang v. Air China Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lin Zhang v. Air China Ltd., 866 F. Supp. 2d 1162, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54565, 2012 WL 1355676 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

SUSAN ILLSTON, District Judge.

Defendant Air China Limited has filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint alleging wrongful death and survival causes of action. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b), the Court has determined that the matter is appropriate for submission without oral argument.

BACKGROUND

Decedent Wenpei Zhang suffered from severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and secondary pulmonary hypertension with chronic hypoxemia. Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) ¶ 11. His medical conditions required that he receive continuous supplementary oxygen. Id.

This case arises from Wenpei Zhang’s death on November 5, 2009, which occurred a few days after defendant Air China Limited (“Air China”) failed to provide him with an oxygen device that the airline had previously agreed to supply for a short flight from Beijing to Shenyan, China on Air China Flight 1625. Wenpei Zhang boarded Air China Flight 1625 on October 24, 2009, shortly after disembarking from a San Francisco, California flight to Beijing, China on United Airlines Flight 889. SAC ¶¶ 26-28. United provided Wenpei Zhang with oxygen service during United Airlines Flight 889. SAC ¶ 26. Plaintiffs have not specifically alleged which air carrier, United or Air China, provided Wenpei Zhang with oxygen service during the waiting period between United Airlines Flight 889 and Air China Flight 1625. See SAC ¶ 17.

Wenpei Zhang’s son, plaintiff Lin Zhang, used a $70 receipt to pay for the oxygen service that Air China was to supply on Air China Flight 1625. E.g., ¶ SAC 23. Lin Zhang had received the $70 receipt weeks earlier, when Air China issued it to him at San Francisco International Airport (“SFO”) as proof of payment for oxygen service that Air China had agreed to supply during an earlier round of flights — Air China Flight 986 from SFO to Beijing, China and Air China Flight 1653 from Beijing to Shenyang, China. SAC ¶ 14. Air China ultimately canceled Wenpei Zhang’s tickets on that earlier round of flights and reimbursed the costs for them, after Wenpei Zhang discovered that Air China Flight 986 was not equipped to provide him with the appropriate oxygen service. SAC ¶¶ 14, 17. However, Air China did not reimburse the $70 paid for Wenpei [1165]*1165Zhang’s oxygen service on that earlier round of flights. SAC ¶ 17.

After the Air China flight from SFO to Beijing fell through, Lin Zhang purchased a ticket for his father on the United Flight 889 from SFO to Beijing. Lin Zhang then tried to book his father a flight from Beijing to Shenyang on Air China. Id. at ¶ 20. He discovered that a domestic flight could only be booked from California if the ticket was part of an Air China international flight. Id. He then attempted to purchase the Beijing-Shenyang flight through Air China’s domestic air travel website, airchina.com.cn, but discovered the website only allowed domestic — within China — flights to be purchased by a credit card issued in China. Id. at ¶¶ 20, 21. Eventually, Wenpei Zhang’s daughter, Ning Zhang, who lives in China but had no Chinese credit card, convinced the husband of a coworker in China to use his China issued credit card on Air China’s domestic website to purchase three tickets for the one-hour and fifteen-minute Air China Flight 1625 on October 24, 2009. Id. at ¶¶ 21, 22, 28, Ex. E. Ning Zhang then reimbursed the coworker’s husband for the tickets. Id. at ¶ 22.

Lin Zhang subsequently contacted Air China in China and was told that he could use his earlier $70 payment to pay for the oxygen service on Air China Flight 1625. SAC ¶ 23. Before boarding Air China Flight 1625 in Beijing, Lin Zhang “ ‘paid’ for the oxygen service ... by using the receipt that [he] already had from Air China showing [he] had paid this airline $70 for oxygen service.” Lin Zhang Deck ¶ 14.

Lin Zhang filed the original complaint in this action in state court on November 4, 2011. Doc. No. 1, Ex. A. On November 7, 2011, a first amended complaint (“FAC”) added Wenpei Zhang’s daughter Ning Zhang and his wife Xueqin Lin as plaintiffs. Doc. No. 1, Ex. B. Air China subsequently removed the case to federal court alleging jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331,1332, and 1441. Doc. No. 1.

On February 29, 2012, Air China moved to dismiss, arguing, inter alia, that plaintiffs’ claims are governed by the Convention for Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, May 29, 1999, a treaty ratified by the United States in 2003 (“Montreal Convention” or “Convention”), and that the claims are time-barred under the Convention. Def.’s Mot. To Dismiss, Doc. No. 15. On March 14, 2012, plaintiffs filed an opposition to defendant’s motion to dismiss. Pls.’s Opp., Doc. No. 17. The same day, plaintiffs filed their SAC. Doc. No. 16; see Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a)(1)(B). Defendant’s reply brief argues that if the Montreal Convention does not apply, then the Court must dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction under the Federal Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1602 et seq. Def.’s Reply, Doc. No. 23.

LEGAL STANDARD

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a district court must dismiss a complaint that fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the plaintiff must allege “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). This “facial plausibility” standard requires the plaintiff to allege facts that add up to “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). While courts do not require “heightened fact pleading of specifics,” a plaintiff must allege facts sufficient to “raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. [1166]*1166In deciding whether the plaintiff has stated a claim upon which relief may be granted, the Court must assume that the plaintiffs allegations are true and must draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor. See Usher v. City of Los Angeles, 828 F.2d 556, 561 (9th Cir.1987). However, the Court is not required to accept as true “allegations that are merely conclusory, unwarranted deductions of fact, or unreasonable inferences.” In re Gilead Scis. Sec. Litig., 536 F.3d 1049, 1055 (9th Cir. 2008).

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866 F. Supp. 2d 1162, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54565, 2012 WL 1355676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lin-zhang-v-air-china-ltd-cand-2012.