Virginia Workers’ Compensation for Airline, Aviation, and Airport Employees
An injured airport or airline employee’s claim starts with one question: who is your employer? It isn’t always the name on the aircraft or the airline you’re assisting. A PSA flight attendant works for PSA, not American. A Swissport ramp agent at Reagan National works for Swissport, not the airline whose bags she loads. Report the injury in writing within 30 days to whoever you believe employs you, and file your own claim with the Commission within two years (Va. Code § 65.2-600, § 65.2-601).
I represent injured airport and airline employees in Virginia workers’ compensation claims, including pilots and flight attendants who live or get hurt outside Virginia but are based at Dulles (IAD), Reagan National (DCA), or Norfolk (ORF). Most of the airline and airport claims I handle come out of Dulles and Reagan. I’ve negotiated many workers’ compensation settlements for airline employees with American and United. This page covers what every airline and airport worker has in common. Start with the page for your job.
Flight attendants
How to prove turbulence, cart, bin, and fume injuries; what “no light duty” does to your checks; and how to work with AFA-CWA or APFA.
American Airlines employees
How Sedgwick handles American’s claims, what your contract pays on top of comp, and what American asks for when it settles.
United Airlines employees
United’s claims at Dulles, your contract benefits, and the Court of Appeals decisions involving United ramp and customer service workers.
Ramp, contractor, and airport staff
Swissport, Menzies, and Unifi workers, MWAA and airport authority employees, mechanics, and concession workers. Start with who your employer is.
Who is your employer for workers’ comp?
In most cases, the company that pays you. Confusion in airport and airline workers’ comp claims often comes from the clothing and signage you see at the airport.
Regional carriers employ flight attendants even though the main airline’s name is on the aircraft, and a ramp agent may work for an aviation services contractor rather than an airline, even though their vest says the airport or airline. A United flight attendant based at Dulles, a Swissport ramp agent at Reagan, and a Richmond airport maintenance worker can all have Virginia claims. The responsible employer, the claims administrator, the medical issues, and the settlement amount can all be completely different.
| You work as | Your employer for workers’ comp | Who handles the claim |
|---|---|---|
| A flight attendant for United, American, Southwest, Delta, JetBlue, or another mainline carrier | The airline | The airline’s third-party administrator, a company it pays to run its comp claims. Sedgwick administers United’s and American’s |
| A flight attendant for PSA, Piedmont, Envoy, Republic, SkyWest, or another regional flying as American Eagle or United Express | The regional carrier, not the mainline whose paint is on the aircraft | The regional’s administrator. In my experience, it’s the same one the mainline uses |
| A pilot, mainline or regional | The airline | The airline’s administrator |
| A ramp agent, baggage handler, cabin cleaner, wheelchair agent, or fueler employed by the airline | The airline | The airline’s administrator |
| The same jobs, employed by a contractor such as Swissport, Menzies, or Unifi | The contractor. The airline may be a statutory employer behind it if your employer doesn’t have coverage. That’s rare | The contractor’s insurer |
| A customer service, gate, or operations agent | The airline | The airline’s administrator |
| A mechanic or technician | The airline or the maintenance contractor | The employer’s insurer |
| A Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority employee at Dulles or Reagan | MWAA, which has litigated before the Commission as a Virginia employer | MWAA’s insurer or self-insurance program |
| An employee of the Capital Region Airport Commission (Richmond), the Norfolk Airport Authority, or the Peninsula Airport Commission (Newport News) | The commission or authority, a Virginia political subdivision | Its insurer or risk pool |
| A FedEx Express, Amazon, or UPS ramp or sort worker at an airport | Federal Express Corporation, Amazon, or UPS | Sedgwick (FedEx and Amazon); Liberty Mutual (UPS) |
| A TSA officer, FAA air traffic controller, or CBP officer | The federal government | The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, through the U.S. Department of Labor, not Virginia’s Act. I don’t handle federal claims |
| A restaurant, retail, or parking worker at an airport | The concession or parking operator | Its insurer |
The name on your paycheck is a start, but it may not settle the question. If you aren’t sure who employs you, report the injury in writing to the company you believe it is. If another contractor, airline, or airport authority may share responsibility, notify them too. There’s no harm in it, and I’d rather explain an extra notice than a missing one.
Which state’s law applies if you were hurt on a trip?
An injury at a Virginia airport, on the ramp, in the terminal, or on a parked aircraft is a Virginia claim. Injuries outside the state can be too. Under Va. Code § 65.2-508, Virginia covers an out-of-state injury if you made your employment contract here, your employer has a place of business here, and the contract doesn’t limit your work to places outside Virginia.
Where you live doesn’t decide it. Plenty of Dulles and Reagan employees live in Maryland or D.C., and the same rule applies to them. I’ve represented and settled claims for pilots and flight attendants based at Dulles or Reagan who were hurt in, or lived in, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, and other states.
More than one state can have jurisdiction, and where you file the claim matters when it comes to value. The length of time you can receive wage loss and medical benefits, deadlines, and the body parts you can receive permanent partial disability for vary by state. Compare the options before you file. My jurisdiction page explains more.
What makes an airline or airport claim different?
Several things make airport worker and airline employee injury claims different: the job’s nature, how you’re paid, the union contract, and frequent travel across state lines. Each one changes the evidence needed to prove your claim and what it’s worth.
| The difference | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Crew can’t work light duty in the air | FAA rules require every flight attendant to perform emergency duties, including opening exits and evacuating the cabin (14 CFR 121.397, 121.417). A release to restricted work doesn’t put a crew member back on the aircraft. The flight attendant page covers what that does to your checks |
| Crew pay is by the flight hour, with per diem | The average weekly wage that sets your rate has to include credit hours, premiums, and per diem that is a specified part of the contract. The carrier’s wage chart often misses the per diem |
| Pilots earn above the cap | The maximum rate is $1,507.01 a week as of July 1, 2026, which corresponds to a wage of about $2,260 a week. Most mainline pilots earn more and receive the cap, so the pilots’ contract and any disability benefits it offers matter more than the comp rate. And the FAA medical certificate, not your surgeon, decides when you fly again |
| The union contract pays more | Your collective bargaining agreement may pay benefits on top of comp while you’re out, and set rules comp doesn’t. The American and United pages cover each contract |
| Layovers, crew hotels, crew vans | A crew member is covered while traveling for work, with an exception for a purely personal errand |
| The nurse line and the recorded statement | United and American route injury reports through a nurse or administrator who makes recommendations. You don’t have to follow them, and you don’t have to give Sedgwick a recorded statement |
How airline employee settlements differ
A Virginia workers’ comp settlement can close some or all of your benefits for a lump sum, and the Commission must approve it. For an airline employee, the settlement number is only part of the deal. The airline may ask you to resign or retire, which affects other benefits. Make sure the settlement papers include language that protects any flight benefits or additional pay; otherwise, you risk losing them. If you’re going to lose them through the settlement, make sure the airline increases the offer.
What Virginia’s courts have decided about airline and airport workers
Eight decisions from the Court of Appeals of Virginia show how the Commission and the court treat these claims.
| Decision | Who | What it decided | More on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways Holdings v. Miller, Rec. No. 0003-14-4 (Va. Ct. App. June 17, 2014) | Reagan-based flight attendant on a four-hour layover in Omaha | A slip on an airport escalator during the layover was compensable. Her testimony that the step felt slick was enough | Flight attendants, jurisdiction |
| United Continental Holdings v. Sullivan, Rec. No. 0164-23-4 (Va. Ct. App. Jan. 23, 2024) (published) | United customer service representative at Dulles | A fall on the walkway from the employee garage to the terminal was compensable under the extended-premises doctrine | United |
| Pang v. Air Wisconsin Airlines, Rec. No. 1877-18-1 (Va. Ct. App. Sept. 24, 2019) | Flight attendant on a ferry flight from Columbia, S.C., into Norfolk | A decompression-illness claim was denied. The Commission didn’t believe the event occurred, and the flight data agreed | Flight attendants |
| United Airlines v. Taylor, Rec. No. 1169-15-4 (Va. Ct. App. Mar. 15, 2016) | United ramp agent, jet bridge stairs | A knee that gave way carrying strollers up the stairs wasn’t proven to arise from the work. The award was reversed as speculative | United |
| O’Donoghue v. United Continental Holdings, Rec. No. 1149-18-4 (Va. Ct. App. Mar. 26, 2019) | United ramp serviceman at Dulles | An electrical arc from a cargo-door switch after a thunderstorm was denied as an act of God, over a dissent | United |
| Hersl v. United Airlines, Rec. No. 0278-14-4 (Va. Ct. App. Oct. 21, 2014) | United storekeeper at Dulles | An unexplained fall from a pickup bed was denied | United |
| MWAA v. Lusby, Rec. No. 2900-02-4 (Va. Ct. App. Aug. 19, 2003) | Airports Authority assistant fire marshal | The heart-disease presumption applied against MWAA as a Virginia employer | This page |
| US Airways v. Taite-Pressey, Rec. No. 1564-09-1 (Va. Ct. App. Feb. 23, 2010) | Flight attendant | An award of continuing disability was affirmed over the airline’s full-duty release | Flight attendants |
Notice how many turned on the first day. In Miller and Taylor, the outcome came down to whether the worker could say what caused the injury.
Want to know what your claim is worth? Send me your employer, your base, and what the administrator has paid so far. I’ll run the numbers with you.
What should you do in the first 30 days?
- Report the injury promptly and in writing. Use the airline’s or employer’s injury-reporting process, but keep a copy of whatever you submit. Describe the date, shift or flight, location, the task you were performing, the body parts injured, and how it happened. Don’t downplay your symptoms.
- Ask for a panel of at least three physicians to choose from, as § 65.2-603 requires. The nurse who takes the report is not the panel and shouldn’t direct you to one doctor.
- Decline the recorded statement and the blank medical release. An adjuster will likely ask for both. Give a written account instead.
- File a claim with the Commission through Web File within the first weeks, whatever Sedgwick or the administrator is paying. Only the Commission can enter an award, the order that legally forces the employer to pay workers’ comp benefits, including medical expenses.
- If you’re a union member, call the union’s injury rep the same day. AFA and APFA both publish injury guides, and AFA tells its members not to sign Sedgwick’s generic medical release but to use the union’s form.
How airline claim administrators negotiate
I’ve spoken with many adjusters over the years, first on the defense side, then representing injured workers. I have found airline adjusters reasonable when it comes to negotiating settlements.
Mistakes that cost airline and airport workers their benefits
- Reporting the injury to the airline when a contractor is your employer, and to no one else.
- Treating the nurse-line call as a filed claim, then learning about a denial after the deadline is close.
- Giving a recorded statement before you’ve seen a doctor.
- Signing a settlement that requires resignation without protecting flight benefits.
When you may not need me
If you missed two weeks with a sprained wrist, the administrator paid, and you’re back at work with no lasting problem, you can probably handle the claim yourself. File the Commission claim form anyway. It’s free, and it protects you if the wrist acts up later.
Common questions, straight answers
I’m based at Dulles or Reagan, but I live in another state, or I was hurt in one. Is it a Virginia claim?
Usually yes. Virginia covers an out-of-state injury when the contract of employment was made here, the employer has a place of business here, and a crew member based here starts and ends trips here. That holds whether you live in Maryland, D.C., or Florida. A significant percentage of the injured airline employees I represent live in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, or elsewhere.
I work for a contractor on the ramp at Reagan. Is the airline my employer?
No. The contractor is, and its insurer pays. The airline may be a statutory employer behind the contractor if the contractor’s coverage fails. Report to both in writing. I’ve settled many airport worker claims against contractors.
My employer offered no light duty, and my checks stopped. Is that right?
It depends on whether you have an award. Without one, Virginia pays wage loss after a release to restricted work only if you document a job search within your restrictions. With an award, the employer has to go to the Commission to stop paying. Read my page on the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s Rules for more information.
Are airline or airport workers federal employees?
Most aren’t. Virginia’s Workers’ Compensation Act covers airline, contractor, and airport authority employees. TSA officers, FAA air traffic controllers, and CBP officers are federal employees, and their claims go under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act through the U.S. Department of Labor. I don’t handle those claims.
Is fuel or fume exposure on the ramp or in the cabin covered?
A single exposure on one shift or flight, followed by symptoms the same day, can be an injury by accident. Report it before you leave the airport, get seen the same day, and make sure the medical chart describes the exposure. Illness from years of exposure is an occupational disease claim with a harder standard. The flight attendant page covers cabin fume events in detail.
I was hurt in an emergency landing or crash while working. Can I sue?
Not your employer. Workers’ comp is your only remedy against the airline that employs you. You may have a separate lawsuit against a third party, such as the aircraft or parts manufacturer, an outside maintenance contractor, or another airline. That type of claim is known as a third-party action, and you can bring it while also pursuing workers’ comp benefits.
Where would my hearing be?
At the Commission’s hearing site serving the airport, by video or in person. Northern Virginia claims are heard at the Manassas or Fairfax sites. I appear there often; my offices are in Richmond and Hampton Roads.
What to tell me when you call
I’m a workers’ comp attorney for injured airport and airline workers, in cases involving national airlines, regional carriers, and ground-handling contractors. Tell me which airline or aviation contractor you work for, where you were based, what happened, what your union rep has said, and what the employer or claim administrator has told you so far. I’ll help you identify issues that may affect your Virginia workers’ compensation claim, including how your CBA, the Workers’ Compensation Act, and various disability policies interact.
Tell me what’s happening.
I’ll tell you what it means.
Free, confidential, and I respond personally, usually the same business day.
Richmond (804) 251-1620
Hampton Roads (757) 810-5614