So...what’s your take on this, Sean?
Pretty bad when you are called a snowflake by CFP.
Even worse when they are 100% right.
United has an effective “drop and drag” policy to make room for their employees to fly, even if you have boarded and are seated in your paid seat.
The latter is against the law. Period.
I think the service in the airline industry (actually almost all industries when compared to the Far East) is generally bad in the U.S..
However, I’m surprised at the number of conservatives here who take the side of the snowflake here vs. a business. Even if they weren’t smart about it, when someone acts this idiotic, I would bend over backwards to make sure he does not get away with such behavior.
The horrible thing is that the removed passengers were just thrown into an aligator swamp behind the airport.
If you have plenty of time, Fly....
Cry me a river. Airline profit is at an all time high.
The Rules of Carriage set conditions under which a passenger can be removed. Wanting the seat for someone else isn’t one of them.
Airlines to report ‘blowout’ record profits amid low gas prices, higher fees
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2016/01/12/airline-profits.../78647924/
Jan 12, 2016 - U.S. airlines are poised this month to report ‘blowout’ industry profits for 2015 that could set a record since deregulation in 1978.
Finally a voice of reason and rationality.
Can’t take this seriously as it starts with a false premise. There was no overbooking.
It wasn't overbooked. At the last moment they decided to boot 4 passengers to make room for United employees.
The passengers had paid for their seat, reserved it, had boarding passes, and were sitting in that seat waiting to take off when the company decided to boot them.
One passenger made a scene, but it was disgraceful in the case of all of them.
I don’t know any other industry that can get away with “overbooking”. If someone pays for a seat, that seat should be guaranteed.
Maybe the Dodgers should sell 60,000 tickets to their 55,000 seat stadium. Lets watch them kick 5000 people out of those seats when everyone shows up.
The passenger may have been wrong. But that does not matter. The airline employees who were supposed to be in control of the situation were wrong. This is not about the passenger. It has nothing to do with him. Did the airline handle the situation well. NO! They were pompous as always. They handled it badly, let it get out of control. And then the airline did not understand that thousands of people hate the airline because they too have been mistreated at one time or another.
The attitude of several United employees is quite horrible. Maybe it will change after this. I don’t think so. But lets hope.
I haven’t clicked through to the blog, but I have long loathed UA and would have a hard time finding sympathy for them.
I did once, about 4 years ago, see an unusual event though. My youngest daughter spilt a drink upon my wife. A UA (yes, United Airlines) stewardess actually noticed this mess, on her own, and with her own initiative gave my wife a napkin! I was shocked!
My wife wanted me to email UA about it but i didn’t want the stewardess to lose her job. The stewardess was fairly young and probably hadn’t been through her full training yet. I didn’t want her to lose her job for such an act.
I will not divulge the incriminating flight number and date.
Airline didn’t pound the guy,CHICAGO airport cops did.
Am I correct?
I am so sorry that you are traumatized by this tale. Might I suggest you go outside and do something constructive like pound sand down a rat hole?
First this has nothing to do with overbooking. It has to do with paying passengers being held up then thrown off the flight so company employee can get a free ride.
It is also about when the airline can screw with you.
Once you have boarded the plane and are in compliance with all the rules can they just throw you off for no reason?
Apparently in your jackboot kissing little world yes.
However United skated so close to the line so often that they forgot that there actually was a line. And apparently they blithely decided to cross it. This is, from the information coming out, not the first, second or even the one thousandth time they have done so. But it is the first time they were caught on video doing so.
So while you are outside consider this, that maybe having your pockets full of congress critters does not allow you to abuse people.
I know United is considering it.
Nah, can’t agree. The passenger paid for a ticket â paid for services to be rendered. Also, United did not offer cash for the inconvenience, they offered âcreditâ which translates to you spending more money to travel somewhere you didn’t want to. Would an $800 credit pay for your hotel room, meals and loss of work the next day? With no good reason, the airline decides he can’t go, after his bags are loaded and he is on the way home. If the reverse were the case, there would be plenty of penalties levied against the passenger, including loss of fare. Sorry, United broke their end of the bargin and did not even attempt to pay the market rate for someone’s ticket and inconvenience. They effectively stole time and money from their selected passengers.
It is a big deal. They didn’t overbook, they tried to throw seated passengers off the plane to accommodate standby employees. What do they think standby means? Customers first, employees whose jobs depend on the customer, second.
I understand “dead-heading a crew”, but there is more than one way to get to Louisville.
Is the writer ignorant, or a liar? Because by this point, everyone should recognize that this is a false statement:
“because the company overbooked”
In any event, he’s not credible on this subject, and not worthy of being read or quoted.