UNITED AIRLINES AND ITS "CONTRACT OF CARRIAGE"

Apr-26-2017

On April 9th, a video showing police officers forcibly dragging a passenger off a United Airlines flight sparked outrage on social media. United asked for four volunteers in order to make room for United employees after passengers had been boarded and seated on the flight. The selected passenger, Dr. David Dao, was a 69 year-old Asian American doctor. He refused to leave the plane since he was seeing patients the following morning, and he was then removed off the plane by force.

Under federal rules, commercial airlines are governed by a contract, referred to as the "Contract of Carriage" or COC. A COC imposes legal duties upon carriers and protects the legal rights of passengers. In justifying its actions removing Dr. Dao from the plane, United Airlines cited Rule 25 in its COC which is titled "Denied Boarding Compensation". The United COC's Rule 25 applies when a passenger is denied boarding. When there is an oversold United Airlines flight that originates in the U.S. or Canada, United can seek volunteers. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with United's boarding priority, but United provides transportation and compensation to the involuntarily denied passengers. Plainly, this Rule does not seem to apply to the involuntary removal off a plane or to a refusal to transport once a passenger has boarded a plane - in other words, to the circumstances of this case.

Author - Jay Kesan