Landing the airplane enroute is typically the airline solution these days to in-the-air incidents involving unruly/out-of-control passenger(s). So it is not a far stretch to now expect that policy to be extended to ground operations whether or not security might be available to assist in solving the problem. Once you rule out the use of any kind of force, having the flight cancelled at the gate over a non-compliant passenger becomes the only realistic option left to an airline.
I will hand it to United though, They somehow managed to assemble a flight of @200 random passengers that, to a person, had such urgent business on Monday morning that none of them would accept $800, a free hotel and flight the next day.
Remarkable.
Wasn’t the original offer something like $300 or $400?
$800 was the raise.
$400 with flight restrictions won’t get you very far. Especially with an additional $50 per bag per flight and $50 or so in airport “safety” fees. That $400 “free” flight would cost you upwards of $150 and be prone to bumping (which is “okay since you didn’t pay anything in the first place”).
Also, I’ve heard that 3 customers did take the $800 offer and that another volunteered if the amount was raised (reportedly to $1600 as which the flight crew laughed in his face).
The one time I did voluntarily give up my seat for a travel voucher, I was cast adrift. My “replacement flight seat” was also bumped and then I had to catch a cab from one NYC airport to another at my expense (I think my original flight was Dallas to Nashville to Boston and it became Dallas to Nashville to NYC to Boston).
I do recall back when I did fly regularly that the offer to “get on the next flight in 90 minutes” was soon followed by an announcement on the FIRST plane (to those who remained onboard) that THIS flight is now expected to be delayed 1-2 hours (sitting on the tarmac).
After repeatedly experiencing that, I decided one time (and one time only) that I would give up my seat (since I had no one waiting for me at arrival) and I fully expected that the plane would soon announce a delay as they always had in the past.