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Comment by Spivak | Hacker News Reader

But it’s their plane. They can throw me off of it for literally any reason they want. If they do it can also be a breach of contract or violation of various laws depending on the why and I would be entitled to compensation or they face criminal charges. But like it’s not like the chair becomes my property once I get on the plane.

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I don't understand what you mean by "they can throw me off"--that's only true in the same way that it is possible to do something unlawful, breach a contract, commit a crime, etc. You have rights as a passenger on an airline in which the U.S Government takes a rather active hand regulating. Those rights do not depend on owning the airframe or seat materials.

Same people thinking airlines can just throw people off cause they bow to authority also prob believe a cop is the law and will do whatever they ask.

You have rights, yes, but the exact set of rights is different than most non-flight crew people think.

a very TL;DR summary is that they can throw you out, and you can sue them for it later if it was for invalid reason, but you still get thrown out. Similar rules happen on the sea, which results in hilarious summaries like "yes, a Disney Princess can sentence you to death and do the execution, if specific conditions are met" (condition being "evacuated on escape boat/device of a Disney cruise ship"). The summary is hilarious, but the same applies to plane's captain so long as flight operations are ongoing, including pre-flight preparation after embarking.

It's my body, my legs. I can refuse to leave for literally any reason I want. If I do it can also be a breach of contract or violation of various laws depending on the why and they would be entitled to compensation or I face criminal charges. But like it’s not like I become their property once I get on the plane.

It's their plane which the passenger has paid for a part of, for a duration, and for the transport to a destination. The passenger owns a part of the plane's usage for that time period. Just because tenants merely renting a house doesn't mean the landlord can throw them out of their home.

That’s because there are very specific laws that protect renters in those types of situations. Completely different.

A better analogy: If I purchase a movie ticket, the theater cannot just kick me out at will, right? Oh wait - yes they can.

No, you don't own plane or its usage. The closest is that through many intermediaries, you obtained revocable at will privilege of being transported on vessel captained by X and owned by Y.

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