Originally Posted by Gardyloo
Of greater (but still pretty low-level) interest to me is the exposure of Orbitz et al.
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As for what a court might do, I think the relief they'd grant and that we would request would be specific performance, i.e., follow the rules, rather than any monetary settlement. That would be the easiest thing for the judge to order, since Alitalia's actions here are so patently illegal.
Agree completely that the various agent entities have more exposure issues than Alitalia, both in terms of litigation and reputation/publicity.
As for the relief granted, specific performance makes sense in theory. In many jurisdictions, however, that type of relief is available only in certain courts (e.g., Superior and not small claims). Also, specific performance can create an issue in terms of time: if time is of the essence, an adjucation in 2008 can't very well order Alitalia to take you from Toronto to Larnaca on July 17, 2006.
p.s. to gee yoo one duh: I have neither a horse in the race nor a reservation, cancelled or otherwise, on Alitalia. Please let me know if that makes me ineligible to participate in this thread.