To answer your specific point about what EI do. The basis of confirming identity of British or Irish citizens within the CTA is the responsibility of the airline and not a pure legislative requirement. Part of the reason for this is that, although the CTA is recognised in.a number of treaties and legislation, it is effectively a memorandum of understanding between the two countries rather than a formal treaty.

it is worth noting the is EI not regulated by the IAA rather than the CAA and therefore the advice on implementation of such policies is likely to be subtle different.

in the modern world, where movement of children across boarders has implications on a small number of safeguarding children cases, it does seam prudent to confirm the identity children as well as the accompanying adults YVMV.

This is a civil case, and in a civil case, it does not need to be of "beyond reasonable doubt" standards. Rather, it only need to be based on "the balance of probabilities" standards.

So in your case, your booking is for yourself and your child, meaning a reasonable person will assume that your plans for that moment/period in time, you will be travelling to wherever with your child with no other childcare arrangement in place as you will be together for that period of the flight.

The court will consider if a reasonable person will assume that you will want to travel alone and leave your child with no alternative childcare.

As due to the standards required in court for this case, the agents do not need to ask if you can arrange for alternative child care and you going off alone (to erase reasonable doubt), their assumption, based on your joint booking is sufficient.

Yes I suspect you might be right in terms of the Court assessing the actions (or inactions) of the check-in agent. However this rather leaves the question "what happens next" hanging in the air.

In relation to my booking alone (and not my son's), I have complied with all BA's Conditions of Carriage, and yet I was not given a boarding pass. Is the assumption of the check-in agent, however reasonable, sufficient to overturn the contract between BA and I such that I lose my entire fare paid and am not allowed to travel, with no further remedy required? Would this not be disproportionate? Would you not find it reasonable that, were a check-in agent to make such an assumption with such consequences, he should be required to state his assumption (and the consequences), and allow the passenger the opportunity to agree, or otherwise? Put another way, it seems that BA has unilaterally determined that some implicit terms of the contract between it and the passenger take precedence over the explicit terms, without seeking informed consent of the passenger, despite having ample opportunity to do so.

Why did not you check-in on the app/kiosk/website? You could have gotten the BP on the app as well or from the kiosk. or were you prevented from doing that for some reason? It does not sound like you were denied boarding as it does not seem that you made it to the gate.

I think the OP must take responsibility for his own actions. Blaming everyone else is a futile exercise.

The OP has admitted he presented himself and his child at check-in without the documents the airline requires for travel. as stated on its website. If the OP was prepared to travel alone he should have advised the check-in agent of that fact before the check-in deadline. We are told the OP had ample time for his wife to bring the passport, but instead of organising that he let time escape him by taking issue with the check-in agent and their supervisor.

I find in these situations it is always best to acknowledge one's own shortcomings or mistakes and seek advice on the options available rather than try to bully or argue the agent in to submission.

It was an expensive mistake, and one I'm sure the OP will not repeat.

Does what occurred constitute denied boarding under EC261? No, not in my view, the OP accepts he didn't present the travel documents required by the airline.

No case to answer.

By their own admission, the entire party arrived with incomplete documentation and could not check in as an entity. The party later asked to separate the booking, but only after the flight had closed. This was correctly communicated.
If you think not having the correct documentation is somehow BA's fault, submit your claim.
When you lose, issue a MCOL. When you lose that, get over it and move on.

Alternatively, stop thinking that everything is the fault of somebody else. More so when your error is the root cause.

I got an error message when I tried to check-in online; always seems to happen with my son

Sorry, but i’d disagree with your view that you complied with all of BA’s conditions of carriage based on the information that you have provided here and as per my response above.

I think these are some things the agent will assume, in the order of thinking a reasonable person will go through.
1. Your booking is a joint booking with a minor where you will be responsible for the child during the flight,
2. Skyflyer Solo service ended in 2016 so flying your child out with the correct documents on a later flight alone is not possible.
3. You will be solely responsible for the care of the child for the time period of the flight with no other alternatives.
4. You turned up alone with no third party sending you off that can take responsibility of the child should you go alone.

Therefore, giving you the boarding pass for the flight, and therefore allowing you to abandon the minor, will never come into the mind of a reasonable person. So the only conclusion that a reasonable person can come up with is that you will abandon the trip rather than your child, therefore fulfilling BA's T&C in regards to abandoned trips. BA did not denied you boarding, you denied yourself boarding because of your (reasonably assumed) duties of caring for a minor.

Your "idea" of still issuing you a boarding pass but you not turning up is, frankly, not something a reasonable person will consider, and therefore likely will be discarded by the courts.

You may disagree with what I had said, I am fine with that. You can put in a EU261 which will likely be turned down and then take it to the courts. If you do, please keep us updated.

Hi Tobias,

Your argument is superficially attractive and I respect your good intentions in writing what you have.

However, you appear to make no distinction between myself (correct documentation) and my son (incorrect). Of course the latter is my fault! However, does it follow from Person B not having the correct documentation, that the airline may refuse to check in Person A on the same booking, when Person A has properly presented for check-in; and particularly, to do so without seeking consent from Person A, nor indeed explaining this to Person A in any way whatsoever?

Cheers,
BTP

Had you properly presented requested check-in for yourself alone and this has been completed prior to the check in deadline... but you didn’t

i enjoy a legal armchair discussion as much as the next man, but one does have to objectively look at the facts of your want to reach a reasonable conclusion.

Of course, your welcome to submit and see what happens, but I can’t help but feel that time could be better spent and if there is one lesson in life, always listen to your partner; if they’re telling you ton drop it, they probably have good reasons.

Hi alvinlwh,

That's a reasonable argument and one which BA may well make in some shape or form in the unlikely event that this does end up before a Court.

However, don't you find the lack of communication from the (contract) check-in agent around his assumptions and their consequences, to be the elephant-not-in-the-room of this matter? In other words, even if he was reasonable (or even "right") to make those assumptions, was he also right not to state them, and obtain explicit consent?

Cheers,
BTP

Then it goes back to my earlier question: is BA entitled to treat an application to check in at the check-in desk by multiple people on the same booking, to be joint? Is there such thing as "checking in as a party" vs "checking in alone"? BA CsOC don't have any such distinction.

From what I can tell, from what you have written, the check in agent and their supervisor have acted reasonable at all points and no there is no requirement for them to state anything. The onus is on you as per the COC.

your right, they don’t distinguish, however they do require you as an individual to have completed check/in before the check-in deadline which you, and I repeat the onus is on you to have completed, did not.

You have repeatedly stated that you feel BA has made an error, that you feel that the onus should be on them to see if you want to check in individual and cite that nothing in their COC would prevent this. You should consider that there is nothing in the COC, in EC261 or indeed any regulations that would out the onus on them to do so, the onus is clearly upon you in the contract which you have breached IMHO.

I will bow bow out of the discussion at this point given points have been made and little point in repeating them and obviously need to comply with FT rules.

Best of luck eith whatever action you decide.

You arrived at check-in and tried to check in as a party of 2 with incorrect documentation for your son.
At this point you had the opportunity to ask for the party to be split and checked-in as individuals.
You did not request to be split until after the check-in deadline.

If you had asked earlier and check-in staff refused to accept you individually then EU261 denied boarding may be valid.
But you asked to split too late and EU261 does not apply.

Check-in staff cannot know you want to split unless you tell them.