zincwarrior
TGT Addict
RULE 21 REFUSAL OF TRANSPORT
UA shall have the right to refuse to transport or shall have the right to remove from the aircraft at any point, any Passenger for the following reasons:
Force Majeure and Other Unforeseeable Conditions – Whenever such action is necessary or advisable by reason of weather or other conditions beyond UA’s control including, but not limited to, acts of God, force majeure, strikes, civil commotions, embargoes, wars, hostilities, terrorist activities, or disturbances, whether actual, threatened, or reported.
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I can see United using the Force Majeure and Other Unforeseeable Conditions defense:
force ma·jeure
fôrs mäˈZHər/
noun
1. unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract.
UAL will claim they did not plan to have to move that flight crew to Louisville and it was an unforeseen circumstance that day.
That said, I am not sure they will prevail if there were other reasonable ways to get that crew there within the necessary timeframe, which I don't believe any of us know the answer to and may never.
And it may not even matter as long as the need was unforeseen by UAL. But they surely could have handled it better.
Except of course its an entirely foreseeable condition that is totally within United's control. Force mejeure clauses work for events beyond one or both parties' control. What caused this is the opposite of that. United wanting to put some of their employees on was completely within their control.