Know Your Rights

The violent removal of a passenger from a full United aircraft has prompted heated debate over flyers’ rights. Jenny Southan explains why airlines overbook and how it might affect you

Most frequent flyers will have experienced being bumped at some point during their travels, but few will have grabbed the headlines in the way that Dr David Dao did on a recent United flight from Chicago. Video footage of the passenger being violently removed from an aircraft by police for refusing to give up his seat went viral, and the airline was publicly shamed into settling a legal case filed by the plaintiff out of court.

While the story made headlines across global news sites, it did bring to the fore important questions about air passenger rights. In the case of Dao, he had been granted boarding but after he was picked to be removed to allow space for a United employee – and he refused to get off – he was “involuntarily deplaned”. In this instance, it resulted in a broken nose and two lost teeth.

A more common issue for air travellers is being denied boarding as a consequence of overbooking, whereby the airline has sold more tickets than it has seats on the plane. Most airlines do this as a matter of course, and the consequence is that staff will either ask for volunteers to take a later flight (“voluntary bumping”) or pick on someone of their choosing (“involuntary bumping”). In both instances, where you are in the world and which airline you are travelling with will determine what compensation you are entitled to – if any.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), 50,000 people were bumped from UK flights in 2015 (the equivalent of 0.02 per cent), either because of aircraft being swapped for smaller planes at the last minute, or overbooking.