Selling unconfirmed tickets
In the UK and EU, is it possible in any way for an airline to sell "tickets" for unconfirmed/standby seats (making this very clear to the purchaser) for a nonzero cost (but cheaper than a normal ticket) that may be refunded if no seats are available on a flight and is *not* liable to EU261 ? Pax would be told maybe 24 hours before departure if it converted to a real seat or a refund/credit voucher
I imagine the answer is a definite NO, but wondered what happens if the purchaser of an "unconfirmed ticket" signs something digitally to say they acknowledge the variation in terms. Can statute allow this change in contract without imposing the usual rights and duties ?
To those who point to how certain airlines abused the system pre 2004 that led to EU261, I'm thinking instead of an informed consent process whereby pax confirm they understand what standby means
Passenger would get cheaper transport than normal, while airline gets more freedom to fill the plane for revenue. Effectively, EU261 would be unbundled from the ticket to become a potential opt-out in return for money and looser commercial regulation
I realise such a solution might require a lot of legal creativity... so maybe the "tickets" might be sold by a company in an offshore jurisdiction which is not formally owned by the AOC licenced airline but which "advertises" on the airline website and pays "consultancy fees" to the airline
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 20th Feb 2021 at 08:13.