Publication Date
1-1-2022
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
Sturm College of Law
Keywords
Contract of carriage, Denied boarding, Gross negligence, Limitation of liability, Passengers' rights, Willful Misconduct
Abstract
Overbooking flights are a common practice of the airline industry. This business practice aims at ensuring that airplanes fly at their full capacity. However, due to boilerplate contracts that bury the relevant clause, most passengers are shocked when they are denied boarding due to the lack of passenger capacity. This article looks at the legal aspects of overbooking in three jurisdictions: Iran, France, and the U.S. It studies the legal basis of overbooking in each jurisdiction and analyzes the remedies each system offers passengers. While the policy of ensuring a functioning airline industry requires the practice of overbooking, states can provide a higher degree of legal protection for passengers. This article suggests that Iran's legal system must improve its current requirement for airlines' contracts of carriage. Providing a comprehensive guideline on the passengers' rights in case of overbooking must become mandatory for airlines. It should also require airlines to be transparent about all of their policies and ensure that the overbooking clause in the contract of carriage is as conspicuous as possible.
Publication Statement
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Originally published as Mohsen Izanloo, Zahra Takhshid and Abolfazl Shahin, Denied Boarding and Overbooked Flights: A Comparative Study of Contracts of Carriage, 13 SHIRAZ U. J. OF LEGAL STUDIES 25 (2022).
Recommended Citation
Mohsen Izanloo, Zahra Takhshid and Abolfazl Shahin, Denied Boarding and Overbooked Flights: A Comparative Study of Contracts of Carriage, 13 SHIRAZ U. J. OF LEGAL STUDIES 25 (2022).1/