United Airlines forcibly removes passenger on flight they (did not) overbook

[Acey]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Yes.

This literally happened yesterday on a WestJet flight from here to Toronto last week. Stuff is going really late at Toronto right now because of construction and a crew over there timed out, so they had to get a couple of flight attendants out there... after they had boarded.

The individuals in this particular United case screwed up, but the notion of an airline bumping people to get a crew/staff out so a further 168 people don't get their entire flight cancelled... yeah it happens everyday. Where's the thread railing Delta about people stranded in ATL over 80 hours last week?

You obviously do not intentionally set up a situation where you have to bump after boarding.

[SofaProfessor]

I don't care how crazy the passenger was, once you knock him out and drag his limp body down the aisle he suddenly doesn't seem like the crazy one in this situation.

This never should have happened. The passengers should not have been sitting on the plane if the flight was overbooked and they knew people would have to be bumped. Get it sorted at the gate and if a passenger wants to make a scene then they can do it in the terminal where the need to remove them by force isn't necessary in order for the plane to take off.

I also have a huge problem with police/security paid for by the government stepping in and using force to enforce a corporate policy that should have been handled much earlier before anyone stepped on the plane.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Acey

This literally happened yesterday on a WestJet flight from here to Toronto last week. Stuff is going really late at Toronto right now because of construction

I assume this is why I'm currently sitting in an airport bar in Phoenix instead of spending two more hours driving my rental corvette or sitting by the pool. How are there flight delays for construction? Did they not know construction was happening? Did they not see it coming? How was this not factored into the schedule?

As a matter of fact, this RGMG! Excuse me, I need to visit another thread.

[BergyBoy]

There has been a lot of good commentary around this on reddit. Generally from what I read, United is within their right to bump you from the flight, however I do not think they should be able to overbook. But regardless, once he is bumped he has to leave and is technically trespassing. After you have three air marshals tell you that you need to get off, you should probably get off. I believe both sides are in the wrong, and I understand that everyone has important things to do the next day, but he should have just got up and left.

[wontondestruction]

nm

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Acey

SkyTeam and OneWorld members overbook the same way, they all use the same formulas. I've never seen someone condemn an entire alliance though, this comment made me chuckle.

haha sorry. My hatred for Air Canada and United blinds me to all else in the alliance.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by wontondestruction

United is going to wish they had just offered more money to people to get off the flight. It will definitely be cheaper than the incoming lawsuit.

I don't understand this either, they were within their rights to remove him and they were not the ones that beat him so why would they be worried about a lawsuit? Bad press for sure but not a lawsuit.

Edit: they will definitely be named in the lawsuit but that is it.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Lol

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Lol

[Senator Clay Davis]

More lol's. Like goodness who is running the social media account?

[Acey]

Overbooking is based on historical numbers. Like say WestJet has a flight to Vancouver that leaves at 3 pm today, they'll look at the historical numbers and say, "typically, on a 3 pm to Vancouver in mid-April, 4 people do not show up." They then consider it a safe bet to oversell by 3 or 4 seats, and most often come out ahead.

But to reiterate... apparently that's not what this situation was. They were urgently trying to get crew out but did not realize they would need those seats until after boarding. So they screwed up, but this was not a fundamental flaw in the concept of overbooking.

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I assume this is why I'm currently sitting in an airport bar in Phoenix instead of spending two more hours driving my rental corvette or sitting by the pool. How are there flight delays for construction? Did they not know construction was happening? Did they not see it coming? How was this not factored into the schedule?

They did know, they did adjust, and guarantees by Nav Canada (air traffic control) and the Toronto Airport Authority about the impact of the construction have not been met. Behind closed doors, Air Canada and WestJet are collectively at war with the above authorities over the delays at Toronto right now.

[temple5]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

Well within their rights, this incident was escalated by the passenger.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/04/10...ine-passengers

If your flight was booked on points, I wonder if you are entitled to any compensation?

[wontondestruction]

It's surprising that so many bad decisions were made by "qualified" staff that resulted in someone being dragged, screaming off a plane. The gate crew, on-flight crew, security, and police all look like idiots. Seriously, no one had an idea on how to handle this situation better? I'm glad it was a doctor that good pulled off the flight. Presumably, he can afford a good lawyer (looks like he had him on speed-dial), to sue the #### out of United.

[Hemi-Cuda]

[temple5]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

It would be a tough case to win.

Once they've established a need to move passengers around for whatever reason people are going to be forced to be bumped - and get compensated. The issue is the fundamental lack of understanding how airplanes need to operate mixed with an overabundance of passenger entitlement. The odds are people will most likely miss their flight or be enticed by a voucher early. But in the offhand chance they don't, the scenario escalates because the system will randomize who must move. If the randomized voluntold people then refuse, they will be forcibly removed.

So I'm not sure what happened before the incident, but the passenger is in violation of federal law once he's been told he has to go.

I have to say, for other threads this might be appropriate but its not appropriate here imo. Overabundance of passenger entitlement? I must be missing something.

This guy entered into a purchase contract with United where he pre-paid for a specific service at a specific time (of course barring weather). United reneged on that contract and is (all airlines) trying to hide behind lawyers, lobbying, and govt kickbakcs that allow this practice to justify their extremely shady business practices.

Hotels are also sleezeball organizations that bump so airlines arent the only sleezeballs in the world. We were bumped at a hotel in Barcelona 4 years ago and we havent stayed in a hotel since. Thank goodness for airbnb.

[jayswin]

It's amazing how much people are willing to support security and law enforcement in the United States. It's becoming such a police state that people just kind of roll with it now on that level.

*Guy gets knocked out and bloodied and dragged off an airline without showing any violent behavior

"Well, certainly he could have handled that with a little more dignity".

"Guy embarrassed himself"

[sketchyt]

Originally Posted by jayswin

It's amazing how much people are willing to support security and law enforcement in the United States. It's becoming such a police state that people just kind of roll with it now on that level.

*Guy gets knocked out and bloodied and dragged off an airline without showing any violent behavior

"Well, certainly he could have handled that with a little more dignity".

"Guy embarrassed himself"

100% agree. There's also some stat out there how all these metal detectors and TSA protocols have never actually been proven to stop a single terrorist attack.

And not that I would be any better, but it's pretty telling no one on that plane backed that doctor up. Everyone just sits, films, and takes it.

I'm glad that doctor went out kicking and screaming. If he gets off "dignified", this is something we never hear about.

[Hack&Lube]

Everybody on the plane missed their flight time too because some of the passengers started leaving and then they forced everybody off the plan to "tidy up" which delayed it another 3 hours!

[GGG]

The problem is that this was so simple to resolve. Continue to increase the reward until someone bites. There was no reason ever to get security involved. None, regardless of what the law states.

United is 100% the cause of this situation and could have easily prevented it for a fraction of what they have already spent in legal and PR on day 1 of this incident.

[jammies]

I hate when "entitled" people pay money for a service and then actually expect the service.