Posted on 04/10/2017 9:27:28 AM PDT by simpson96
Edited on 04/10/2017 10:24:48 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
Video shows three security officials dragging a passenger from a United Airlines flight at a Chicago
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcchicago.com ...
they didn’t sell more seats then they had. there was a person on standby that they forced one of the passengers off so they could fly some employees on stand by. unless this is the president of the company traveling on stand by I am betting that someone losses there job on this one.
Sorry, Laz, but he was asked multiple times to vacate the a/c, as is the right of the airline. He chose to not comply. He was the one who required the LEOs to remove him in that way. Had he simply followed the legal direction of the airline personnel, none of the events that followed would have happened.
Just because you do not agree with the decision of a common carrier, just like disagreeing with the decision of government, that does not allow you to ignore that decision.
Actually, as in this case, you can ignore such a decision, just like people did in the Whisky Rebellion and the Civil War, but then you are responsible for the aftermath of that refusal.
I wonder if it was union cabin crew flexing their union muscle because they didn’t make adequate plans to get to their departure city, or whether it was company execs wanting to take wives/mistresses on a last minute trip.
The United PR crew has been mighty quiet so far.
> They should have had an auctioneer and paid to the highest bidder an option to stay and wait for the next flight. <
Bingo! If $400 doesn’t get anyone off the plane, try $800. Then try $1200. Then try $1600, etc. Any other method should result in a lawsuit against the airlines.
Sorry, but his damages will be limited to the statutory “denied boarding” compensation, as he cannot collect for what happened after his defiance of a lawful order from the LEO.
Flying has become absolutely miserable.
This is probably why they capped how much they would give passengers to voluntarily take the next flight. Usually in overbook situations airlines will continue to up their offer until someone takes it.
I got a free ticket and a few hundred dollars taking a later flight once when I was in college. It is fine if you are not in any particular hurry to get where you are going.
Something tells me we haven’t heard the whole story yet.
Has United given a statement yet?
United is awful and likely don’t care about the PR hit. They once pulled a little trick on me I call the “voluntary separation scam”, where they wrote “VS” on my boarding pass, but never said a word to me. When my luggage didn’t show, their staff said “you agreed to voluntary separation of your luggage, see?”. Of course, once you’re at your destination, you can’t really dispute it with the weasel who wrote it. Ummm......no.
They used to be a favored airline of mine, as I traveled a lot for my job. Now I see them as bottom-feeding scum. And they likely would take that as an ENDORSEMENT.
Dead-heading Must-Ride crew.
They go, or another flight isn’t going to be leaving.
The normal procedure for involuntary denied boarding is quite clear. You pull the last to check-in, and they get compensated per the law.
Welcome to Spring Break flying. It has not changed over the years.
He booked a flight with United. They accepted his money, gave him a ticket, boarded him and then made him leave for no reason other than to make someone else happy. He had no reason to leave and someone else could have either left the plane or one of those who where bumping could have waited.
This is absolute nonsense and the man will win a big time lawsuit and for once I agree.
They have no idea why he was on that plane. He could have just been on vacation. That doesn’t matter. United got it into their head that someone was more important than this paying customer and they over reacted and abused this man physically.
Good post. Perhaps people should read the small print on their ticket before they fly.
If the guy really is a doctor and had patients the next day, I’m figuring a 150,000 settlement before this is over.
Before 9/11 I flew all the time. Now I won't fly anywhere that I can drive to in less than 12 hours. It is just not worth the hassle, waiting time, and loss of control at each end of the trip.
The United PR crew has been mighty quiet so far.
What you propose would be much more cost effective for United than the lawsuits coming over this incident. Not only will the removed passenger sue, but some of the other passengers will also sue, due to the trauma they experienced. It will not turn out well for United AL.
Involuntary bumping is NOT unusual, or illegal.
It is not even legally debatable, because involuntary bumping requirements and compensation are detailed in both
* DOT regulations. The government.
* united airlines contract of carriage. The contract for your ticket purchase.
Usually they are able to get enough volunteers to make this less common, and usually they handle it before everyone has boarded.
They should do it by order of check-in time.
If you don’t want to risk being booted off the plane, arrive earlier to the airport. Or check-in 24 hours before online.
And you would be properly arrested.
Sorry, but the law recognizes the possibility of overbooking, and makes provisions for statutorily specific “denied boarding compensation.”
You can be denied boarding, and or removed from the a/c, and that is all you get.
PS, the claims that he is a doctor and the other boarded passengers were airline standbys have now been proved to be false.
True. Someone told me once that flying would become as much fun as riding the Greyhound bus, and that was in the 80’s.
The actual damages are no doubt covered by the fine print you agree to when you buy a ticket, but the public relations damage to UA — millions. This is not how you do it in the era of “everyone has a camera” and social media.
Sometimes you have to scream like a “little bitch” to draw attention to bad deeds.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.