It is unambiguous. Seat assignments are not guaranteed. Operational is not in the definitions section and is not defined anywhere else in the document to my knowledge... the common definition does in fact give them carte blanche.



Unfortunately your opinion doesn’t match up with the agreement. You’re certainly right that we, as flyers, should be pressing carriers to shift more restrictions to them instead of accepting all the risk ourselves. But as you probably know, an overwhelming majority of people don’t even bother reading what they agreed to, let alone have the wherewithal to effect change.



They don’t make a distinction because they don’t have to. The applicability section (my words, not theirs) states these rules apply to anyone holding a ticket period. See below: