A signboard of China Eastern Airlines is seen at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Sept 23, 2014. [Photo/IC]

AFTER MORE THAN 40 passengers with valid e-tickets were unable to board the aircraft for a flight from Shanghai to Beijing due to the lack of seats on Thursday night, China Eastern Airlines denied overbooking and said it just replaced the scheduled aircraft with a smaller one. Beijing Times says even if the reason is valid, the airline still has a legal obligation to compensate the passengers:

Even if the airline did change the aircraft instead of overselling tickets, as it claimed, it is still responsible for the delay caused to the over 40 passengers.

The passengers had valid tickets, so they had a legal contract with the airline, which is thus obliged to shoulder the responsibility for its failure to fulfill that contract. However, it is reported that the China Eastern Airlines staff persuaded some passengers concerned to sign a compensation contract waiving their right to sue the company.

The increasing number of disputes between airlines and passengers in recent years have a lot to do with information asymmetry, as the airlines will often resort to some unconfirmed and unconvincing excuse to absolve them of any responsibility for flight delays and overbooking.

As an increasing number of passengers are aware of their legal rights and willing to fight for them, airlines have no reason to ignore their complaints and try to avoid paying compensation. Instead, they are supposed to abide by relevant regulations and regain passengers' trust by demonstrating integrity.