Bryant v. Finnish Nat'l Airline - 15 N.Y.2d 426, 260 N.Y.S.2d 625, 208 N.E.2d 439 (1965)

Rule:

A foreign corporation in order to be subject to jurisdiction must transact, with a fair measure of continuity and regularity, a reasonable amount of its business within the State of New York. The fact that an airline company does not operate its airplanes within the State of New York is not determinative. The test for doing busines is and should be a simple pragmatic one.

Facts:

Plaintiff-appellant Eleanor Bryant was a passenger injured at an airport in Paris when a blast of air produced by the defendant Finnish National Airline’s, a foreign airline company, aircraft caused a baggage cart to strike the plaintiff. Plaintiff then brought an action in New York. Defendant brought a motion to dismiss the complaint under N.Y. C.P.L.R. 3211(a)(8) for lack of personal jurisdiction. The trial court ruled in favor of plaintiff but the appellate division reversed the decision by which the trial court denied the foreign airline company's motion on the ground that the foreign airline corporation was not doing business in the State of New York and thus was not subject to personal jurisdiction in New York. Plaintiff then sought review of the decision.

Issue:

Was the appellate court correct in finding that respondent was not doing its business in New York?

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

On further review, the court reversed the judgment from the appellate court and reinstated the trial court's decision, finding that the respondent airline was doing business in the State of New York. The court ruled that although the respondent did not directly sell tickets in New York, it maintained an office, advertised, employed several people, had a bank account, and facilitated the ticket business of the foreign airline company in the State of New York.