Can you be legally bumped or taken off a flight AFTER boarding?
Can you be legally bumped or taken off a flight after you have boarded and been seated on the plane?
This happened to me seconds before departure because a passenger with 'Summit' status showed up. We had been boarded after waiting standby because (no fault of ours) we had been delayed on a connecting flight. This flight was 3 hours after or original connection departed. We were told that there was at most a 10 minute window before this standby flight that the passenger could show. This window had passed and we were boarded. Seconds before take-off the lady who worked the desk where we got our pass, boarded the plane and told my wife and I that one of us had to get off, or we could both get off - as a passenger with a valid ticket had arrived. They directed me to the bridge and closed the door behind me and the plane took off. I had to sleep the night in the Denver airport floor and other issues...but that is another story, and not my question :-)
Frontier has just confirmed the reason I was taken off was the ticketholder was a Summit member. I want to know if this is a breach or against FAA or any other law or statue regarding security, etc once a passenger has boarded to remove them this way?
Best Answer
The airlines ability to bump you off the flight is basically governed by airline's contract of carriage and Passenger Bill of Rights with a more detailed description on the US Dot's Air Consumer site.
The only thing that they describe where you are entitled to compensation for being "bumped" off the flight if the flight was oversold and you had a reservation, however, there is no such provisions for the standby passenger nor there is provision for delayed or canceled flight more specifically:
Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers waiting at the airport; there are no federal requirements.
In this particular case Frontier chose a frequent customer over you though they were within their rights to cancel or change his/her reservation but chose not to do so.
Pictures about "Can you be legally bumped or taken off a flight AFTER boarding?"
Can you get off a plane after boarding?
An air passenger has no legal grounds or entitlement to request to leave the aircraft once the doors have closed after boarding is completed.Can you be removed from a flight?
According to the Contract of Carriage, United can refuse to transport or has the right to remove passengers from the aircraft at any point for any of the following reasons: (These are just a few of the listed reasons.)Here's what airlines legally owe you if you're bumped off a flight
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Rajukhan Pathan, Pixabay, Pixabay, Pixabay