Arnold: I was Recently Denied a Seat on an Airline Flight

Topic: Arnold: I was recently denied a seat on an airline flight for which I had a confirmed reservation, because the airline had overbooked the flight. Since I was forced to fly on the next available flight, which did not depart until two hours later, I missed an important business meeting. Even though the flight on which I had a reservation was cancelled at the last minute due to bad weather, the airline should still pay me compensation for denying me a seat on the flight.

Jamie: The airline is not morally obligated to pay you any compensation. Even if you had not been denied a seat on the earlier flight, you would have missed your business meeting anyway.

A principle that, if established, justifies Jamie's response to Arnold is that an airline is morally obligated to compensate a passenger who has been denied a seat on a flight for which the passenger has confirmed reservations_____

(A) if the only reason the passenger is forced to take a later flight is that the airline overbooked the flight
(B) only if there is a reason the passenger is forced to take a later flight other than the original flight's being canceled due to bad weather
(C) only if the passenger would not have been forced to take a later flight had the airline not overbooked the original flight
(D) even if the only reason the passenger is forced to take a later flight were at the original flight is canceled due to bad weather
(E) even if the passenger would still have been forced to take a later flight had the airline not overbooked the original flight

“Arnold: I was Recently Denied a Seat on an Airline Flight” – is a GMAT Critical question. This particular GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from the book ‘GMAT Official Verbal Reasoning’. In this particular topic, candidates need to choose the option that best suits the passage. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. Critical reasoning in GMAT requires candidates to find the strengths and weaknesses of the argument, or find the logical flaw in the argument.  The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

Answer: C
Explanation:
This is a GMAT critical reasoning question. An assumption is an implied hypothesis. So we are looking for something that is implied in the argument. In case it is wrong or maybe disable the argument. Let's go through the assumptions that suit the most with the given argument:

1. Seems a bit restrictive. This option says that if a passenger misses the flight, the airline should only compensate in cases when the flight was overbooked. What about the case when let's say the flight wasn't overbooked but the airline didn't call the passenger to tell them that the flight has been preponed by half an hour. Incorrect
2. Not necessarily. Say, if the passenger is forced to take a later flight because they were late to the airport, the airline shouldn't have to pay. Incorrect
3. If the airline had NOT overbooked the original, Arnold still would have been forced to take a later flight (because of bad weather). According to Jamie, this is not sufficient for compensation. He should only receive compensation if he would NOT have been forced to take a later flight. This is exactly what (C) is saying, in a confusing way
4. If the passenger is forced to take a later flight because the weather was bad, it is not the airline's fault. It might be that the flight was booked to capacity or even a bit under capacity but due to bad weather they weren't able to take off. Incorrect
5. This just says that even though the airline hadn't overbooked and the passenger had to take a later flight due to some reason (maybe bad weather, technical issues with the plane, someone calling in a bomb threat etc), the airline should have to pay. In case it's not the airline's fault, according to Jamie's argument, they shouldn't have to pay. Incorrect

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