Originally Posted by
Piltdown Man
What was clear is that UA didn't allow an auction to take place. They relied on their CofC to give them a "legal" right to deny boarding.
Not sure about that. One "clarification" elsewhere on here says that five DH crew arrived at the gate and they DID offer an auction (on the plane, after boarding).
But as already covered (at length) previously in this thread neither the Title 14 regs nor the UA CoC gave them any rights in this case. Under the Title 14 regs DH crew needs don't qualify as "overselling" unless the seats had been boioked & confirmed in advance (which they hadn't, because the DH crew was only needed to cover delayed flights downroute). The UA CoC gives them no right to deny boarding to Pax that are already boarded.
If you want to try and convince a judge that a passenger who is on plane and buckled into his seat isn't yet "boarded" then go ahead and give it your best shot!