You are wrong.
I have heard an announcement made asking for volunteers after passengers are seated, more than once.
In fact you can create this situation yourself anytime you want.
Walk up before the gate closes to the gate and offer to pay “full fare” on a fully loaded plane. They will try to get you on. Full fare tickets can be a couple thousand or more.
You’re making bad assumptions.
What if United needed those 4 crew to get another plane off the ground in a hurry? For example, when a mechanical fix delay puts a crew beyond their legally allowed working hours.
Would it REALLY be poor planning and judgement to involuntarily bump a SINGLE passenger instead of delaying a flight for HUNDREDS of people?
If your decisions are poorly made, it is you who must deal with that. Excusing incompetence is not a good business model. Spin it any way you want. You can fall back on "rules and regulations", the facts remain what they are. United, and the cops, made bad decisions and must be held to account.
If this sometimes happens on planes due to a weight lowering need, why couldn’t they take a few bags off? Easier to deal with irrate owner later on, and out of public view.
The “bumped” (beaten and bloody) passenger was a doctor and had a valid need to be on that flight at that time. The airline should have upped the bribe until they got a taker.
UAL could have chartered a plane to fly four people 300 miles for less than $800/seat, I bet.
Great way to respond to my post, which wasn't even directed at you. I've flown a lot over the years and I have never heard a call for volunteers after the flight had boarded.
As for walking up to the gate and offering to pay full fare...ain't gonna happen. You don't get past TSA without a boarding pass. So unless you already have a ticket for another flight, you're not going to be in the sterile area. So your scenario is highly unlikely.
As far as claiming I made a bad assumption, I understand United needed to reposition a employees to crew another flight. But they handled this situation extremely badly, as can be evidenced by the social media firestorm that has erupted. If you really need four volunteers, you need to keep upping the ante until four people decide they can wait a little longer. That would have been a lot cheaper than the stock market hit, the bad publicity and the inevitable legal action.
Bottom line...United employees made some really bad decisions in this case. And now the CEO is doubling down by backing their stupidity.