Originally Posted by
BOSTransplant
It does apply. Airlines can only downgrade people for a reason (such as a broken seat, changed equipment, federal air marshal, etc). An airline can't legally downgrade someone for no reason, just like someone in economy can't legally go sit in first class for no reason...
Yes, they need to claim a reason for the downgrade. My point was that they often don't (or try not to) compensate the passenger for the downgrade; if the passenger purchased the right to fly in F, then the airline owes compensation for not providing a flight in F.