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Acontract of carriage is acontract between acarrier ofcargo orpassengers and theconsignor,consignee or passenger.[1][2] Contracts of carriage define the rights, duties and liabilities ofparties to the contract, addressing topics such asacts of God and including clauses such asforce majeure (removingliability for extraordinary occurrences beyond control of the parties). Amongcommon carriers, theterms and conditions of the contract may be printed on the reverse of a ticket or carriage document.[3]
For cargo shipments, notification of ashipment’s arrival is usually sent to the "notify party", whose address appears on the shipping document.[4] This party is usually either the buyer or theimporter.
The 1950legal case ofHeskell v. Continental Express ([1950] 1 All E.R. 1033) provides a description of [the process of carriage, including the roles offorwarding agents and loading brokers in this process.[5]
Cross-border European railway tickets are covered by theCIV conditions of sale.
In July 2010, it became widely public thatSouthwest Airlines had classified mechanical difficulties as anact of God in their contract of carriage, expanding the definition formerly shared with Delta, American, Continental and United.[6] This was later clarified by the airline as mechanical difficulties beyond the airline's control, as for instance the failure of the air traffic control system, or fuel delivery systems operated by airports.
Airlines may sell more tickets for a flight than the number of seats that are actually available. This overselling can result in too many passengers turning up for a flight. When this happens, the airline first asks for volunteers to give up their seat in return for compensation. However, if there are not enough volunteers, the airline itself designates which passengers will have to give up their seats. This process is calledinvoluntary denied boarding or (less formally)bumping.[7]
The proportion of passengers who are involuntarily denied boarding is around 1 in 10,000, and has been falling for the 25 years between 1990 and 2015.[8]
According to aviation analyst Henry Harteveldt, the airlines' contracts of carriage favour the company, not the passenger. Involuntary denial of boarding is not uncommon,[9] but removal after boarding because the seat is needed by others is "exceedingly rare". Nonetheless, an airline has a right to do so based on the contract, in his view. "Remember, it is their aircraft and their seat — you're just renting it to get from point A to point B", Harteveldt toldBusiness Insider in 2017.[10]
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