The lawyers for the plaintiff, from the video, are saying the captain is responsible. Are airlines going to argue, in front of a county or federal court, that the captain is not completely in command when an aircraft is at the gate?
The phrase be careful what you wish for comes to mind.
Probably a moot point anyway, as this would be difficult to argue, and must already be written down somewhere in law.
How about a fire breaking out during boarding, who is responsible for ordering EVAC?
[... the gate agent, because they are performing the boarding process and the captain hasn't yet 'taken command' and doors aren't closed?]
I find it hard to believe that a gate agent would have boarded that flight and said to the pax '4 of you need to leave' without either the Captain's knowledge and/or blessing.
Last edited by newfoundglory; 16th Apr 2017 at 14:12.