Opinion ID: 3013508
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: “Regular Passenger Service”

Text: 16 Both the plain meaning of the policy language and rules of statutory interpretation reveal that insurance coverage extends narrowly to those common carriers specifically licensed to conduct regularly scheduled passenger service. Furthermore, EA’s license includes a significant provision that “[t]he certificate holder is not authorized and shall not . . . [c]onduct Scheduled Operations at Authorized Airports.” But even assuming that coverage did extend to all licensed common carriers operating regularly scheduled passenger service, the Pilosis cannot overcome the reality that EA was not conducting regularly scheduled passenger service within the meaning of the policy and under the terms of its license. The EA shuttle flew patrons from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Atlantic City, New Jersey on alternating Saturdays at 4:30 P.M., and returned the following morning at 2:00 A.M. Although the ill-fated flight was part of a regular pattern of flights engaged by the casino, EA did not dictate the schedule; rather, its client, Caesars, did. EA was operating a service for a client who hired the flight for its convenience on alternate Saturdays. There is a distinction between an airline that accommodates a client who regularly engages a flight once every two weeks and an airline that conducts regularly scheduled passenger service. We hold that when the time and destination of the service is dictated by the convenience or business of the charterer and the airline’s license specifically prohibits regularly scheduled service at authorized airports, the service does not qualify as “regular passenger service” under the terms of the policy. Merely chartering a plane on a 17 regular basis does not transform an airline operating on-demand into a regularly scheduled service provider. See Fosse, 1994 WL 139413, at  (holding that where an air taxi service operated upon demand, it did not operate its flights pursuant to a set schedule). As mentioned previously, EA provided on-demand air taxi service. (A489) EA was licensed as a “charter operation providing taxi services” under 14 C.F.R. § 135 (emphasis added). In addition, EA’s FAA Air Carrier Operating Certificate designated the airlines as an on-demand air taxi. Moreover, the preliminary accident report filed by the National Transportation Safety Board described the aircraft as an on-demand charter flying a “non-scheduled” flight. Finally, the airline’s Operations Specifications not only provided that EA “is not authorized and shall not . . . [c]onduct Scheduled Operations at Authorized Airports[,]” but defined a “scheduled operation” by an air carrier as one “for which the certificate holder or its representative offers in advance the departure location, departure time, and arrival location.” 14 C.F.R. § 119.3. The facts of this case demonstrate that EA does not meet the definition of “regular passenger service.” To summarize, Part I of the policy provided benefits of $1 million for accidental death in a public conveyance operated by a duly licensed common carrier for regular passenger service. The EA flight was, indeed, a public conveyance, but was not “operated by a duly licenced common carrier for regular passenger service” as required by the plain language of the policy. Because all of the elements of Part I are not satisfied, it 18 was error as a matter of law to grant summary judgment in favor of the Pilosis on the issue of coverage.