G.R. No. 76093 - Air France vs. Court of Appeals

Manila

SECOND DIVISION

G.R. No. 76093 March 21, 1989

AIR FRANCE,petitioner,
vs.
THE COURT OF APPEALS AND NARCISO O. MORALES,respondents.

Siguion Reyna, Montecillo & Ongsiako for petitioner.

Morales & Joyas Law Office for private respondent.

PADILLA,J.:

This is a petition for review on certiorari of the decision**of the Court of Appeals, dated 1986, in CA-G.R. CV No. 69875, entitled"Narciso Morales vs. Air France,"dismissing herein petitioner's appeal from the adverse ruling of the trial court (Branch 33, CFI of Rizal, Kalookan City)***and the latter's denial of its motion for reconsideration. The respondent Court of Appeals likewise denied petitioner's motion for reconsideration of its decision in a resolution dated 25 September 1986.

In reviewing the records, we find:

Sometime in October 1977, private respondent Narciso Morales thru his representative, Ms. Janet Tolentino, purchased an airline ticket from Aspac Management Corporation, petitioner's General Sales Agent in Makati, for P 9,426.00 plus P 1,413.90 travel tax, of which P 413.90 were later refunded to Ms. Tolentino.

The itinerary covered by the ticket included several cities, with certain segments thereof restricted by markings of "non endorsable' and 'valid on AF (meaning Air France) only', as herein specified:

While in New York, U.S.A. on 3 November 1977, private respondent Morales obtained three (3) medical certificates (Exhibits G, G-1, G-2) attesting to ear an infection which necessitated medical treatment.ℒαwρhi৷From New York, he flew to Paris, Stockholm and then Copenhagen where he made representations with petitioner's office to shorten his trip by deleting some of the cities in the itinerary. Respondent Morales was informed that, as a matter of procedure, confirmation of petitioner's office in Manila (as ticketing office) must be secured before shortening of the route (already paid for). Air France in Amsterdam telexed AF Manila requesting for rerouting of the passenger to Amsterdam, Hamburg, Geneva, Rome, Hongkong, Manila.2

As there was no immediate response to the telex, respondent proceeded to Hamburg where he was informed of AF Manila's negative reply. After reiterating his need to flying home on a shorter route due to his ear infection, and presentation of supporting medical certificates, again, the airline office made the necessary request to Manila on 23 November 1977 for a Hamburg, Paris, Geneva, Rome, Paris, Hongkong and Manila route. Still, the request was denied. Despite respondent as protest and offer to pay any fare difference, petitioner did not relent in its position. Respondent, therefore, had to buy an entirely new set of tickets, paying 1,914 German marks for the homeward route, namely:

Upon arrival in Manila, respondent sent a letter-complaint to Air France dated 20 December 1977 thru Aspac Management Corporation. Respondent Morales was advised to surrender the unused flight coupons for a refund of its value, but he kept the same and, instead, filed a complaint for breach of contract of carriage and damages.

CFI Judge Marcelino Sayo found Air France in evident bad faith for violation of the contract of carriage, aggravated by the threatening attitude of its employees in Hamburg. Considering the social and economic standing of respondent, who is chairman of the board of directors of a multi-million corporation and a member of several civic and business organizations, an award of moral and exemplary damages, in addition to the actual damages incurred, was deemed proper under the circumstances. The dispositive part of the CFI decision states:

On appeal to the Court of Appeals, the award of damages was modified as follows:

Questioning the factual findings of the respondent court, petitioner comes to this court for review citing three (3) errors:

After considering respondent's comment, the Court resolved to give due courses to the petition, and required the parties to file their respective memoranda. Complying with the resolution of 26 October 1987, private respondent filed his reply memorandum on 17 December 1987. This is the last pleading on record.

While this Court is not a trier of facts, yet, when the findings of respondent court are without citation of specific evidence on which they are based, there is sufficient reason for the Court to review the appellate court's decision.6

The respondent court's ruling that there was breach of contract of carriage is premised on petitioner's refusal to re-route respondent and, in effect, requiring him to purchase a new set of tickets. Petitioner refutes this conclusion, claiming that the original ticket wasdiscountedandnon-endorsable on certain segments.Eventually respondent flew on his chosen route with different airlines.

Under the factual milieu, was there really a breach of contract of carriage on the part of the petitioner, as to justify the award to private respondent of actual, moral and exemplary damages? We find none.

International Air Transportation Association (IATA) Resolution No. 275 e, 2., special note reads: "Where a fare is restricted and such restrictions are not clearly evident from the required entries on the ticket, such restrictions may be written, stamped or reprinted in plain language in the Endorsement/Restrictions" box of the applicable flight coupon(s); or attached thereto by use of an appropriate notice."7Voluntary changes to tickets,8while allowable, are also covered by (IATA) Resolution No. 1013, Art. II, which provides: "1. changes to the ticket requested by the passenger will be subject to carriers regulations.

Private respondent wanted a rerouting to Hamburg, Geneva, Rome, Hongkong and Manilas9which shortened the original itinerary on the ticket issued by AF Manila through ASPAC, its general sales agent. Considering the original restrictions on the ticket, it was not unreasonable for Air France to deny the request.

Besides, a recurring ear infection was pleaded as reason necessitating urgent return to Manila. Assumingarguendoa worsening pain or discomfort, private respondent appears to have still proceeded to four (4) other cities covering a period of at least six (6) days and leaving open his date of departure from Hongkong to Manila.10And, even if he claimed to have undergone medical examination upon arrival in Manila, no medical certificate was presented. He failed to even remember his date of arrival in Manila.

With a claim for a large amount of damages, the Court finds it unsual for respondent, a lawyer, to easily forget vital information to substantiate his plea. It is also essential before an award of damages that the claimant must satisfactorily prove during the trial the existence of the factual basis of the damages and its causal connection to defendant's acts.11

InKLM Royal Dutch Airlines v. CA,12the Court observed-

Unlike in the KLM case where the breach of contract was aggravated by the discourteous and arbitrary conduct of an official of the Aer Lingus which the KLM had engaged to transport the respondents, here. Air France employees in Hamburg informed private respondent that his tickets were partly stamped "non-endorsable" and "valid on Air France only."13Mere refusal to accede to the passenger's wishes does not necessarily translate into damages in the absence of bad faith.14To our mind, respondent has failed to show wanton, malevolent or reckless misconduct imputable to petitioner in its refusal to re-route.

Air France Manila acted upon the advise of ASPAC in denying private respondent's request. There was no evident bad faith when it followed the advise not to authorize rerouting.15At worst, the situation can be considered a case of inadvertence on the part of ASPAC in not explaining the non-endorsable character of the ticket. Of importance, however, is the fact that private respondent is a lawyer, and the restriction box16clearly indicated the non-endorsable character of the ticket.

Omissions by ordinary passengers may be condoned but more is expected of members of the bar who cannot feign ignorance of such limitations and restrictions. An award of moral and exemplary damages cannot be sustained under the circumstances, but petitioner has to refund the unused coupons in the Air France ticket to the private respondent.

WHEREFORE,the judgement appealed from isREVERSEDandSET ASIDE.Petitioner is ordered, however, to refund to private respondent the value of the unused coupons in the passenger's ticket issued to him by the petitioner. No costs.

SO ORDERED.

Melencio-Herrera, (Chairperson), Paras, Sarmiento and Regalado JJ., concur:

Footnotes