"United passenger lawyers up, will likely re-accommodate airline..."

[madaboutharry]

Good article on United's liability and the different rules that apply once the passenger is in the plane.

http://abovethelaw.com/2017/04/united-passenger-lawyers-up-will-likely-re-accommodate-airline-in-court/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Dao has all the points in his favor. United? Not so much. This should be interesting. n/t

[Sculpin Beauregard]

2. I also think everyone on the flight

should pursue a class-action for trauma from being forced to witness a fellow citizen being savaged and being helpless to intervene.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Can not even imagine the

Civil Suites that are coming down the pike.

[Renew Deal]

4. "Corporate jackboots and Internet lawyers" need to read that article.

George Washington law professor John Banzhaf has a pretty neat argument about United’s liability. Defenders of corporate jackboots and internet lawyers everywhere have been quick to refer to the Contract of Carriage. Technically, you agree to this every time you buy an airline ticket. United’s defenders say that rule 25, “Denied Boarding Compensation,” allowed United to refuse to honor Dao’s ticket in an overbooking situation.

Which it does.

But Professor Banzhaf points out that Dao wasn’t “denied boarding.” As George Carlin might say, he wasn’t on the plane, he was “in” the plane. At that point, rule 21, “Refusal of Transport,” should apply to Dao, not rule 25. Banzhaf writes:

Rule 21, entitled “Refusal of Transport,” is very different because it clearly and expressly covers situations in which a passenger who has already boarded the plane can be removed…

The rule, which unlike the denied boarding rule does provide for removal “from the aircraft at any point,” lists some two dozen justifications including: unruly behavior, intoxication, inability to fit into one seat, medical problems or concerns, etc. But nowhere in the list of some two dozen reasons is there anything about over booking, the need to free up seats, the need for seats to accommodate crew members to be used on a different flight etc.