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

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by 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.

That would not work.

Where would a hypothetical scenario stop? $800 isn't enough, so $1,000? Then more and more if no one bites?

If everyone collectively said no, then the plane isn't flying. And if precedent is set that everyone can band together to disrupt travel, then that would be bad. Because let's be real, everybody is always looking to screw over someone every time. You give anyone an in like that and someone is going to take it.

Just look at how sue happy America is. Someone is going to be entitled enough to believe that their boarding pass might be a lottery ticket. I don't want to side with a corporation there, but when does it stop?

As has been said by many, airlines should not be able to overbook, but then they'll just raise their ticket prices to cover the risk.

[polak]

It's such BS that they can overbook. So what if passengers miss their flight? Do airlines give you a refund if you miss your flight?

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by jammies

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

..and when did we as society forget how to take a polite forearm shiver from authorities with a little class?

[squiggs96]

Duplicate image.

Sheeeeeiiiiiiiitttttttttt.

Poor searching skills led to a fata. Damn it.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by shermanator

McNeil‏Verified account @Reflog_18 3h3 hours ago
United Airlines is pleased to announce new seating on all domestic flights- in addition to United First and Economy Plus we introduce....

Originally Posted by squiggs96

United Airlines is pleased to announce new seating on all domestic flights- in addition to United First and Economy Plus we introduce....

Who wore it better?

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

If everyone collectively said no, then the plane isn't flying. And if precedent is set that everyone can band together to disrupt travel, then that would be bad. Because let's be real, everybody is always looking to screw over someone every time. You give anyone an in like that and someone is going to take it.

What is this stuff? You think there's a potential epidemic of entire planes of passengers banding together and not accepting any amount of money so they can screw over the flight leaving, aka screwing themselves over?


Everyone is looking to screw someone over every time? Even as someone who doesn't have a lot of faith in humanity, no this is not true at all. Most people who are travelling hate the experience and just want to get to their destination, not play some weird game where they screw over themselves and everyone around them

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by jammies

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

Millenials

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by jayswin

What is this stuff? You think there's a potential epidemic of entire planes of passengers banding together and not accepting any amount of money so they can screw over the flight leaving, aka screwing themselves over?


Everyone is looking to screw someone over every time? Even as someone who doesn't have a lot of faith in humanity, no this is not true at all. Most people who are travelling hate the experience and just want to get to their destination, not play some weird game where they screw over themselves and everyone around them?

if the amount is fixed.. like at Air Canada they can't go over $650 then a nice person will volunteer to get everyone else on their way.

if you don't put a ceiling on it, it will become a game (to screw the airline out of more money). This should not be an auction.

[Flamenspiel]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

That would not work.

Where would a hypothetical scenario stop? $800 isn't enough, so $1,000? Then more and more if no one bites?

If everyone collectively said no, then the plane isn't flying. And if precedent is set that everyone can band together to disrupt travel, then that would be bad. Because let's be real, everybody is always looking to screw over someone every time. You give anyone an in like that and someone is going to take it.

Just look at how sue happy America is. Someone is going to be entitled enough to believe that their boarding pass might be a lottery ticket. I don't want to side with a corporation there, but when does it stop?

As has been said by many, airlines should not be able to overbook, but then they'll just raise their ticket prices to cover the risk.

United just played this really badly. Most people on the plane get on and put their head sets on(headset rules on American flights are not as strict as AC) or don't listen to the announcements anyway. They should have walked the aisle with the cash offer before their random selection, if that did not work the employees should have been kicked off. This is an easily avoidable situation that they messed up, very much like the guitar scenario, a self inflicted wound.

[psyang]

An (unconfirmed) eyewitness account from Reddit gives some more details:

I was on this flight and want to add a few things to give some extra context. This was extremely hard to watch and children were crying during and after the event.
When the manager came on the plane to start telling people to get off someone said they would take another flight (the next day at 2:55 in the afternoon) for $1600 and she laughed in their face.
The security part is accurate, but what you did not see is that after this initial incident they lost the man in the terminal. He ran back on to the plane covered in blood shaking and saying that he had to get home over and over. I wonder if he did not have a concussion at this point. They then kicked everybody off the plane to get him off a second time and clean the blood out of the plane. This took over an hour.
All in all the incident took about two and a half hours. The united employees who were on the plane to bump the gentleman were two hostesses and two pilots of some sort.
This was very poorly handled by United and I will definitely never be flying with them again.

The video of the man getting back on the plane is out there, but disturbing to watch.

[ResAlien]

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"

Clearly he should have left the plane voluntarily and then proceeded to write a strongly worded letter to the airline to detail his frustrations. His actions were churlish, selfish, boorish, and reprehensible. United would be well within their rights to ban this acrimonious firebrand from all future flights.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

And if precedent is set that everyone can band together to disrupt travel, then that would be bad.

Yes, that seems likely. What if the all the passengers banded together to rush the pilots, take over the plane, and eat all the snacks for free? So long profit margins, helllo bankruptcy!

[TurdFerguson]

After all that, they lost him? lol

wow, did anyone do their job properly that day?

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

That would not work.

Where would a hypothetical scenario stop? $800 isn't enough, so $1,000? Then more and more if no one bites?

If everyone collectively said no, then the plane isn't flying. ...

Theoretically, possible. Practically - not a reasonable scenario, GirlySports. There are many people on the flight, someone would take the money reward, if it's substantial. I once volunteered to get off the overbooked flight at O'Hare when they announced that the volunteers would be sent to Calgary business class on the next flight leaving in 3 hours, business class + $200 inconvenience fee. There were three people lining up after me immediately to take advantage of the offer.

Plus, if they're worried THAT much about the unpredictable nature of the rising-auction, they could make a more generous and fair replacement rule (law?). Say, if there are no volunteers, the last people to check in get the boot with a fixed reimbursement that is respective of the huge inconvenience they are causing (e.g. automatic upgrade to first-class plus a full fair refund; something like this).

Fundamentally, the overbooking privilege has been created entirely for the benefit of the airlines. Statistically, fully-booked planes fly 95% full due to no-shows. So, they take the risk of overbooking and making more money at the expense of passenger comfort. They must pay up generously without subjecting their clients to this shameful spectacle.

[dsavillian]

Originally Posted by TurdFerguson

After all that, they lost him? lol

wow, did anyone do their job properly that day?

Well, I imagine the baggage handlers weren't late getting the bags on the plane.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Theoretically, possible. Practically - not a reasonable scenario, GirlySports. There are many people on the flight, someone would take the money reward, if it's substantial. I once volunteered to get off the overbooked flight at O'Hare when they announced that the volunteers would be sent to Calgary business class on the next flight leaving in 3 hours, business class + $200 inconvenience fee. There were three people lining up after me immediately to take advantage of the offer.

Plus, if they're worried THAT much about the unpredictable nature of the rising-auction, they could make a more generous and fair replacement rule (law?). Say, if there are no volunteers, the last people to check in get the boot with a fixed reimbursement that is respective of the huge inconvenience they are causing (e.g. automatic upgrade to first-class plus a full fair refund; something like this).

Fundamentally, the overbooking privilege has been created entirely for the benefit of the airlines. Statistically, fully-booked planes fly 95% full due to no-shows. So, they take the risk of overbooking and making more money at the expense of passenger comfort. They must pay up generously without subjecting their clients to this shameful spectacle.

If it's substantial is the key here. There has to be a max. From the article above, a person was already asking for $1600.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

If it's substantial is the key here. There has to be a max. From the article above, a person was already asking for $1600.

They didn't offer anyone $1,000. They offered $400 first, then, upped it to $800 when people were already seated on the plane. Here's stupidity #1. Why did they not offer $800 earlier? $800 is a lot of money. If I had paid $800 for my flight and got offered a full refund of $800 of my fare + accommodation for a 24-hr delay, I'd take it unless I must be back as scheduled for some reason. Substantial is only relative to the amount people paid for their fare. Reasonable is the key here.

Stupidity #2: They should have offered $1,600 to the guy who had asked for it. This lawsuit will cost them dearly, I am sure. I sincerely hope for some kind of a boycott against United. They deserve it.

[nfotiu]

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"

Where do you get this from? People from all walks of life seem to overwhelmingly support the Dr in this case.

[Bill Bumface]

Is overbooking actually based on historic data?

I thought it was purely a question of "Hey, this route is in high demand, we can throw up tickets for $2000 and see if anyone bites. If they do, we can throw $200 at someone who booked for $350 to take a different flight".

I've definitely had United flights delayed by the auction to get people to take a different flight. Highly annoying.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Stupidity #2: They should have offered $1,600 to the guy who had asked for it. This lawsuit will cost them dearly, I am sure. I sincerely hope for some kind of a boycott against United. They deserve it.

Did the airline have the legal right to forcibly remove him after he refused to leave? Because any time force is used, there is the risk of injury.

I mean, yeah it totally sucks to get bumped from a flight, but once he was asked to leave and refused, he was breaking the law. Managing air and runway traffic is not a laughing matter and anything disrupting it can cause a lot of trouble to other flights and passengers.

United screwed up in a lot of ways and were the primary mover for this sad event, but the passenger should have left the plane immediately and peacefully. You can't expect them to just keep begging people or making exceptions because someone doesn't want to be bumped.