| binary solo said: I'm sure if it came to court the airline's lawyers would argue that "denial of boarding" can apply after a person is on the plane and the court would have to decide one way or the other. But until it is determined in court, or clarified in the law (which it is not sufficiently clear), an airline can interpret denial of boarding to include people who are already on the plane. It is reasonably arguable that it is inequitable to only deny boarding to those passengers who have not yet boarded. Airlines have the right to forceably remove someon from the plane in a case of "Failure by Passenger to comply with the Rules of the Contract of Carriage." Since the rules of the contract of carriage include involuntary denial of boarding if there are insufficient volunteers, and if the airline abides by its boarding prioritisation in cases where denail of boarding is necessary, then a person refusing to leave the plane under a denial of boarding which meets the terms of the contract of carriage can be failing to comply with the rules of the contract of carriage and therefore be forceably removed. But that all hinges on exactly how denial of boarding is defined. And it seems like there is sufficient recognition of ambiguity in the current law that consideration is being given to specifying that denial of boarding in cases like this can't be used as a basis for taking someone off the plane. But that can and probably will create problems of its own. |
You hit the nail on the head, couldn't have said it better. In law, interpretation of the language used means everything. It could very well end up being decided both ways, the airline acquitted of any wrong doing in criminal court, while losing the lawsuit in civil court. That the flight was not oversold probable further complicates matters as the denial of boarding rules all refer to overbooking. Lawyers are going to be happy with this case.
I wonder what the outcome will be. For example, imagine if this was a stopover on the flight. Would the airline be in the right to remove a passenger at point B in their route from A to C to replace them with an employee for the last leg?
