“Public-Safety Concerns” Pertaining to Hidden City Ticketing?
“I n its simplest form, a passenger purchases a ticket from city A to city B to city C but does not travel beyond city B,” according to the companies’ complaint. “‘Hidden City’ ticketing is strictly prohibited by most commercial airlines because of logistical and public-safety concerns.”
The above quote has been published in numerous articles pertaining to United Airlines Incorporated and Orbitz Worldwide LLC suing to prevent Skiplagged — an Internet web site for lower cost airfares founded by Aktarer Zaman — from helping consumers buy what the companies call improper “hidden city” airplane tickets which undercut their sales.
The case — called United Airlines, Inc. et al v. Zaman — was reportedly filed with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Monday, November 17, 2014.
I am not going to analyze what are the “public-safety concerns” associated with “hidden city” ticketing — which in and of itself is not illegal but is against the policies of many airlines — except for this very serious and real concern:
Passengers who engage in using hidden city ticketing almost always wind up losing a leg…
A terrorist gets off at city B and the bomb is timed to go off in his checked bag while it is flying to city C. Now do you get it?
Thank you so much Brian for this very informative article.
Michael, does your example take into account TSA and Homeland Security?
Micheal…a terrorist can do that now on any flight with connections.