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 ...
I noticed a lot of posters missed that little tidbit.
UAL's actions on this are horrid.
“No, United should have told their standing-by employees that standing by means not necessarily getting the flight you want. UAL should be busted in the chops if these are all the facts.”
From what I’ve heard, the 4 UAL employees were the flight crew for another flight at the destination. Inconveniencing 4 passengers rather than an entire flight because of a crew shortage makes sense if that was indeed the case.
Yes, that is for the law as regards airline compensation and law.
Now, having gotten past all that, we now go to civil damages as presented to another court, for damages suffered by patients themselves, who are not bound by that airline compensation law.
Game, set, match.
Got 600 bucks, a free night at the South Point resort in Vegas, 2 free breakfast and dinner vouchers, and 2 free round trip tickets to Las Vegas as a result of hussein shutting down McCarran Airport during one of his golf er.....political business visits courtesy of Southwest airlines.
I was happy, didn’t want to go home anyways.
Consider this. You have just bought something from me. I have accepted your payment, and I have assured you that the deal is complete.
And let’s suppose that this deal involves something that is rather important to you. Something that is VERY time-dependent. So we’re not talking about buying a candy bar, or anything like that.
Then after you make all your plans, I say to you, sorry, but forget it. The deal is off. And he’s a cookie for all your troubles.
What do you say then?
The law says that you have to give your would-be customer a whole lot more than just a cookie. You have to pay an amount, in cash, that may be in excess of 4 or even 5 times the value of the product you offered . . . AND, you still have to give the person that product, only later than intended.
Keep on doing that, and see how long you can afford to remain in business.
The airlines walk a very fine line between overbooking too little (and thus losing revenue from empty seats) and overbooking too much (and thus having to give out too much in compensation).
You are truly an idiot.
FWIW....
A spokesperson from United Airlines confirmed to WHAS that “Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked. After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate.
“We apologize for the overbook situation.”
The flight was overbooked.
Demand a jury trial. The airline will settle large.
That's true. I guess my anger here is directed against that law itself. When an airline overbooks, it's the innocent passenger(s) who get stiffed. That's not the way it should be.
Here's the way the law should read: If an airline overbooks, the airline must offer increasing compensation until enough passengers agree to deplane the flight in question.
If the LEO’s were told the reason they wanted him off the plane, they should have said it was none of their business.
This is no different than a restaurant having the cops drag out a diner because they wanted the table for a friend that just walked in.
* 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.
The big change is how they do it.
In the past, they used to keep upping the dollar credit for free travel they gave to bribe passengers to step off the plane until they cleared the overbook.
My best payoff back in the day was $1600.00 plus a free night in Chicago (yippee) O’Hare, a year free membership to the Admiral's Club and a ticket on the first flight out in the a.m.
Now it seems they just count heads to pull people and then bust heads if the passenger who the fickle finger of fate has frowned upon chooses not egress the aircraft.
United will react to this by attempting to outlaw taking video on planes.
Bet on it.
I was newbie flying wth a guy who was a veteran flyer.
Anchorage to Seattle to Sacramento. Over booked.
Announcement give up a seat get on alter fight get a $50 coupon. Not takers.
5 minutes later: Fly later, get free ticket anywhere Alaska flys. I’m going back o work and don’t wanna ticket. Have free miles on United yet to use.
5 minutes: Cash for your ticket at face value $149. Fly free on another airlines in 25 minutes Bingo.. My friend told me sit still and wait; the offer wouldd get better and it did.
As pointed out before there is NO chance of a successful lawsuit award because involuntary bumping requirements and compensation are spelled out by DOT regulations (govt) and United Airlines “contract of carriage” (contract for your ticket purchase).
There are good and ethical reasons why all the major airlines bump at the last minute for crew.
Say a long flight gets delayed 3 hours at the gate for some mechanical reason. But that puts the captain and other crew beyond the hours they are allowed to legally be on duty. They CAN’T fly with this crew.
They have crews on call at their hub and they send several out urgently on a flight to get to the delayed plane. They ask for volunteers, but if they have to they will bump people involuntarily.
The alternative being that most of the hundreds of people on the delayed flight are stuck for ages.
So yeah, how bad that one man is delayed. But how much worse for hundreds.
That is how it was done, until Congress got involved in it.
And the lawful compensation amounts are not indexed to inflation, either.
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.
United is the worst of all.
They overbook heavily as a matter of policy.
As a result, United flights are miserably full and they actually give offer you a voucher to fill out at the terminal to volunteer for getting bumped if the flight ends up overbooked (which undercuts your negotiating leverage at the gate)
There really is only one reasonably pleasant airline to fly these days.
I haven't researched the regulations, so the definition of "denied boarding" may cover this. If not, then the passenger could have a viable claim for damages.
Of course, where the passenger completely fraked up was by failing to follow the direction by the flight crew. Right or wrong, flight crews have almost absolute authority while you are on the plane. They tell you to get off, you get off and fight over it later.
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