JetBlue has been accused of negligently rerouting a quadriplegic passenger on an international itinerary, leaving him in agonizing pain from a Stage III pressure ulcer that developed after he was forced to sit for many more hours than he had ever planned.
Zoran Stankovic from Serbia was traveling from Miami to Belgrade last May, with the first leg of his journey to be flown by JetBlue before he connected onto a long-haul flight to Europe.
As a quadraplegic, Zoran knows all too well that flying with a disability such as his can be an uncomfortable and, all too often, painful experience. But the routing that JetBlue booked for him made his experience far worse than he could ever have imagined.
When Zoran turned up at Miami International Airport on May 15, 2025, Zoran discovered that the domestic JetBlue flight that he had booked to depart at 2 pm had been cancelled.
With Zoran no longer able to make his connecting transatlantic flight as scheduled, JetBlue rerouted his ticket, deciding to send Zoran on a Turkish Airlines flight, first to Istanbul and then on to Belgrade.
The first Turkish Airlines flight was not, however, scheduled to depart Miami for another 10 hours.
During this time, Zoran was forced to wait at the airport without “appropriate medical accommodation” to relieve the pressure from his sitting down for hours on end.
He was eventually haphazardly transferred to an airplane seat on the Turkish Airlines flight: a flight of 13 hours during which he was allegedly denied assistance to get to the restroom.
Once in Istanbul, however, Zoran’s nightmare journey still wasn’t over. He was then forced to sit in a standard airport wheelchair without appropriate cushioning during his layover as he waited for his last flight.
By this point, Zoran says it was clear to everyone that he was suffering from urinary incontinence and significant physical distress. Still, no one provided assistance to allow Zoran to use the restroom at Istanbul Airport.
On arrival in Belgrade, Zoran was able to get medical help, and it was quickly discovered that he had developed a “severe pressure ulcer with significant skin breakdown and tissue damage.”
Zoran would later submit complaints to both JetBlue and Turkish Airlines about his treatment. JetBlue refunded Zoran the cost of his ticket but told him that liability for his injuries rested with Turkish Airlines and airport ground personnel who had been tasked with assisting him.
Zoran, however, is pursuing negligence claims against both JetBlue and Turkish Airlines, as well as Miami-Dade County, in a recently filed lawsuit in Florida.
There is also a claim under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention against Turkish Airlines, which makes airlines responsible for injuries sustained by passengers during the course of an international flight.
JetBlue and Turkish Airlines have yet to respond to the lawsuit.
