Not a hard one to call at all!
If you had your baggage and were being transported on by other means, then they would be glad to have you voluntarily off their hands (BUT, see below). However, if passengers were staying onboard, bags not offloaded, and they were hoping to get airborne to transport everyone to the original destination, then you will have trouble getting off. It would mean baggage being offloaded to get your bag as they cannot continue without you and your bag still aboard- probably impossible to get your bag off in a real diversion/chaos scenario. I would hold you onboard. By selfishly demanding to get off, you would probably be preventing everybody else getting to their destination at all! How could you claim unlawful detention when you purchased a ticket to the original destination? I would be happy for the passenger to risk total bankruptcy taking it to the High Court when they had bought a ticket to the original nominated destination anyway. It comes down to: 'are the needs of the individual more important than the needs of the large group of people?'. I think under these circumstances, you would get scant sympathy from a Court, as well as a massive legal bill depriving you of all your assets, if indeed you want to risk it for a principle and a minor inconvenience.
I'd be amazed anybody would want to risk everything they have for such a stupid (and selfish) principal- but it would be entertaining watching them try it on!
Scenario- carrying large group of Italian pax Nairobi-ZRH-LHR for transfer to Rome. ZRH fogged out- divert to Rome. Great joy for Italian pax! Not so.
1- BA had no traffic rights Nairobi- Rome. No passengers allowed to be landed
2- Italian Immigration would not entertain allowing anybody off at all!
So factors that can affect this jumping off flights are: airline traffic rights and Immigration rules. Sounds unreasonable, but it is not the airline that sets the rules! To prevent the airline contravening the regulations, I would have no hesitation in summoning the Police to deal with recalcitrant passengers determined to 'jump ship' against regulations.
Last edited by Rainboe; 2nd Feb 2009 at 12:26.