Dem wants hearing after United passenger dragged off flight

thehill.com ^ | 4/10/17 | Olivia Beavers

[ColdOne]

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is calling for a hearing the forceful removal of a United Airlines passenger from an overbooked flight.

“I deplore the violent removal of a passenger from a United Airlines flight this weekend,” Norton said in a statement Monday. “Airline passengers must have protections against such abusive treatment.

"I am asking our committee for a hearing, which will allow us to question airport police, United Airlines personnel, and airport officials, among others, about whether appropriate procedures were in place in Chicago and are in place across the United States when passengers are asked to leave a flight,” she continued.

Norton’s remarks come after a viral video surfaced showing the passenger being dragged out of his seat and down the aisle by three airport security guards after refusing to give up his seat.

ADVERTISEMENT United Airlines reportedly offered $800 to individuals who would voluntarily give up their seat, but not enough people offered. The airline then decided to choose individuals at random.

“The only information available has been that perhaps $800 was offered to leave the flight. Federal rules require airlines to give passengers four times their fare or up to $1,250 if they are bumped from an overbooked flight,” Norton said.

[Mr. Douglas]

I’m not sure they did the right thing, marketing wise, but the fact is that once the airline wants you off the plane and you refuse, you will be forcefully removed. That’s how it works.

That’s what happened at Woolworth’s in Oh Brother Where Art Thou.

[Sacajaweau]

Hearing for what?? Bad stuff happens all the time. Court is the proper venue....not Congress.

There is another video...the guy was screaming and irrational. When he fell, he hit an armrest and that was why his mouth was bleeding.

[SkyDancer]

Question is: Why continue to overbook a flight when all seats have already been booked and paid for?

(stuck in Cleveland)

[fruser1]

They don’t mind the tyranny of the TSA. What’s their problem with this?

[Logical me]

Damn Democrats don’t know the difference between Courts and Congress. The rats want to fill up as much of the Courts time to take away the real problems in America. The rats are on the run and use any means to cover it up.

[Hornet22]

This is a private, free market problem. There does NOT need to be government oversight or “hearings” every time someone has a problem. While you’re at it, congress, get the #@$# out of health care!

[FreedomNotSafety]

Lol! Great mash up OBWAT and this brouhaha. He got what he deserved. No sympathy from this 1.5 mm.

[Col Frank Slade]

I don’t think the guy in the video is the reportedly horny Dr Dao.

Does he look 69 years old ??

[Telepathic Intruder]

I’ll bet the U.A. employee who took his seat felt uncomfortable the entire trip.

[Mears]

The guy was a complete jerk,IMHO————he considered himself too important to be bumped——and then he physically resisted removal.

.

.

[RckyRaCoCo]

So much stupidity all around...do we really need to add more?

[Mr. Douglas]

Question is: Why continue to overbook a flight when all seats have already been booked and paid for?

---

My wife’s family has been in the airline industry since the early 60’s.

I hate overbooking myself but, fact is, that is how it’s done. There are always cancellations and this is what keeps prices down. There were lots of empty seats back before deregulation. Flying standby was a dream. Nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder to get on. For me, it’s not even worth it any more.

[Seaplaner]

Eleanor Holmes must be pretty desperate for some tabloid ink.

Sad.

[SkyDancer]

Thing is: The seat was paid for regardless if it was used. If the passenger who paid for the seat didn’t show prior to door closing then it’s up for grabs, but when a passenger who paid for the seat is tossed, that is just not right.

[Rusty0604]

It wasn’t even just overbooked. They decided they needed to shuffle four airline employees so they needed to take out four paying customers.

[grania]

I disagree. Why should there be overbooking? A passenger paid for that seat even if there's a no-show. He's in effect leased it for the flight. Go back to "standby" to fill empty seats. The whole process of taking a passenger off a full flight once they've gotten on is inefficient and disruptive.

It's a 297 mile distance. If anyone had been in charge of common sense or economics, they would've gotten a small charter plane or a rental car to get the crew from Chicago to Louisville.

I know if I were seated on that plane and my luggage was in place, I WOULD NOT want to be taken off. Also, as a nervous flyer to begin with, I would not want the disruption of switching passengers affecting the routine.

What's wrong with going back to a no-overbooking policy? What's next? If I get a seat to a concert or sports event, will management be allowed to remove me from MY seat for a more desirable spectator?

There's no defending United. The only silver lining is the absurdity of over-booking will be investigated.

[okie 54]

US based airlines have become worse than most 3rd world airlines

[JoeProBono]

[Wuli]

Why does Congress constantly act ahead of the courts, and not where they have direct oversight - the federal executive agencies.

I agree United likely erred. But the first order of investigation may be the FAA, or some low level of the DOJ, and of course the passenger’s own rights in the civil courts.

AFTER all that, and all the evidence has been measured in the protections of the courts, THEN Congress could question NOT United, but whether or not all the federal agencies did their jobs.

At this early stage of things, it is just political grandstanding acting as if there was no other possible redress of any grievance than Congress. Nonsense.