Yeah but the ticket and the Airplane say “United” so it’s a distinction without a difference.
What you are saying is correct legally. What we have here is corporate veils being pierced. When I worked at a company that used corporate veils as a legal strategy to avoid liability I learned a LOT about this very thing. United logo on the ticket. Veil pierced. United on the side of the plane. Veil pierced. United CEO issuing apology and follow up buck up letter to employees. Strike three and just for fun strike four. AUL the parent company had their veils pierced. They are culpable.
They had better get out their check book. This guy is going to get 5 million plus in settlement. AUL can not afford for this to go in front of a jury. They would get handed 50 million in punitive damages.