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

[ernie]

Originally Posted by Acey

I'm not saying put the United pitchforks down, but really most people's beef is with the DOT and not United, they just don't know that.

I don't think that at all. I think most understand overbooking happens (though I firmly believe a couple of airlines have bigger issues with it...perhaps they don't get their predictions as correct as others). And it's annoying and I think could be changed (DOT landscape).

The problem in this case is overbooked or not, the airline handled this in an incorrect and embarrassing manner. They never should have boarded the plane and then asked people to leave. They maybe even never should have been trying to bump people from a flight when the next flight is mid to late afternoon the NEXT day. I'm not shocked at all they didn't get enough volunteers given the length of time between flights. They needed to up the compensation as the $800 "final offer" is pretty standard even if you are only getting bumped a couple hours. 24 hours and moving people from getting home on the weekend to potentially missing work and school you better pony up a heck of a lot more.

Once you let a person board you better have a darn good reason to remove them. And shuttling your crew is not that reason.

[JonDuke]

Large pic

Spoiler!

[Kjesse]

So the good doctor who was beaten off the plane both had his medical license suspended for over-prescribing drugs, and while suspended came second in a WSOP event.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

So he deserves special treatment? I'm sure he can go one day without being there to overly prescribe antibiotics and opioids.

Originally Posted by Delgar

So the good doctor who was beaten off the plane both had his medical license suspended for over-prescribing drugs, and while suspended came second in a WSOP event.

What a lucky guess

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Acey

Then they wouldn't do it cause everyone would seek $11k payouts like the Delta guy, overbooking would go away, and we'd have those higher fares anyway.

40,000 people are involuntarily bumped a year because it's legal, and this guy fought for his life so it's news. Republic also flies for Delta out of O'Hare, and I bet these same same security guys work those flights too... this just as easily could have happened on a flight operated for Delta. I'm not saying put the United pitchforks down, but really most people's beef is with the DOT and not United, they just don't know that.

To be fair that 11k payout was from being bumped 3 times for a family of 3. Works out to around $1200 a person. I think if they went above $800 they would have found a volunteer.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Delgar

So the good doctor who was beaten off the plane both had his medical license suspended for over-prescribing drugs, and while suspended came second in a WSOP event.

Sure, but that doesn't mean you can just drag a guy off the plane. His occupation is irrelevant, as you know.

[OMG!WTF!]

Definitely a lot of denial going on here. Who here hasn't been drug off a plane at one point or another? That's life. You just have to find a way to keep your shirt tucked in.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by Slava

Sure, but that doesn't mean you can just drag a guy off the plane. His occupation is irrelevant, as you know.

Occupation is irrelevant, so now that is out of the way it comes down to the fact that he was picked either by random or lowest ticket cost. So the fact is this guy was picked to be bumped and he refused. Lets put these facts behind us now and continue discussing the incident from this point on.

A man refused to leave a plane after he was picked to be bumped, what happens next will shock you.

[Kjesse]

Originally Posted by Slava

Sure, but that doesn't mean you can just drag a guy off the plane. His occupation is irrelevant, as you know.

Yeah, its just an interesting footnote. I think what United did is abhorrent. There should be a passenger bill of rights or a law that prevents overselling. Name another industry where you can sell a product but then take it back. Imagine a realtor/owner selling their house twice and then telling one of the purchasers "sorry" we oversold the house. Its ridiculous airlines get away with this.

Its like in the car purchase thread, where some dealers will accept a second deal if they get a better price and try to reneg on the first deal. Awful behaviour.

[DiracSpike]

But his occupation is relevant. He used the excuse of being a doctor, an important occupation, to cling to his seat. Now it looks like he's just a regular jerk who kept the plane grounded for selfish reasons and got a beating as a result.

The other people who got selected got off the plane. It sucks, it really does, but tough titty. They had a random draw and he lost, accept it like an adult and move on instead of squealing like a child and getting dragged off the plane. Like in any bad situation there's plenty of blame to go around. United being too cheap to up the offer and letting people on the plane, other people on the plane who could've volunteered to get bumped once they saw the situation escalate, and yeah, this guy who failed to mention he was a (suspended) doctor. Not saying he deserved a beating though.

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by Delgar

So the good doctor who was beaten off the plane both had his medical license suspended for over-prescribing drugs, and while suspended came second in a WSOP event.

Originally Posted by Jensen Karp

Ohhhhhh. I WAS concerned about this assault, but now that I know his unrelated past is troubled, I'm STOKED he was beaten for no reason

https://twitter.com/JensenClan88/sta...06309867438080

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Slava

That was yesterday. This morning (pre-market) they're down a little over 2%. Surely people will come to their senses and recognize that one guy being treated terribly isn't going to crater a $22bn operation, but at least for now they're getting hit.

The Chinese market threatening a boycott sure will affect United's operation though.

[Erick Estrada]

If the doctor was required for a life or death treatment I could understand but I would have left my seat without security interviening. I wouldn't be happy at all but it's not like the plane can fly over capacity so regardless of how crappy the situation was some people had to get off.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

If the doctor was required for a life or death treatment I could understand but I would have left my seat without security interviening. I wouldn't be happy at all but it's not like the plane can fly over capacity so regardless of how crappy the situation was some people had to get off.

Or, some people could just not get on. Like the United employees who needed a ride.

There is literally no good spin or excuse United can have for this one. They 100% effed up and are now paying the price.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

[Kjesse]

Reviews on the United App, from a reddit post:

NSFW!

[killer_carlson]

This tweet is good. United Airlines stock is being reaccomodated.

https://twitter.com/Anthony?ref_src=...Ctwgr%5Eauthor

[Regulator75]

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

Yikes, regardless of the passengers behaviour...after video being surfaced of the passenger being assaulted, defending the employees involved is a bad look.

[ernie]

The crew being shuttled weren't actually United crew (I think). They were ExpressJet crew who likely were to be operating a flight for United but they weren't actual united crew. Doesn't really mean anything just that I thought it was a bit interesting.

Anyways, whether the passenger acted like a baby or is a bad doctor or a whole host of other things isn't really relevant. It should have been dealt with before anyone boarded. Even if they did it by random draw you do it before boarding. Then any trouble is kept to the terminal and you can get the flight off without issues. There is no way around it; what United did wasn't just callous but absolutely a stupid way to do business.