Posted on 04/12/2017 3:12:04 PM PDT by Morgana
They might or might not be any worse than any other airline but this mud will take a bit to wash off.
No blame on the pilot. He is really only in charge when the door closes. This is on the gate agents.
I have avoided United for decades, but with such a big hub in Denver I sometimes have to fly them. I was not at all surprised by their initial stand on this one.
“Note: If he sues he will lose.
He was taken off after a request was made by the airline to debark. The validity of the request is not a legal matter — see the contact of carriage.”
Actually - he will win.
United’s Contract of Carriage (COC - required by 14 CFR 253 -often referred to as the “fine print”) includes two distinct sections: Rule 21 entitled “Refusal of Transport,” and Rule 25 entitled “Denied Boarding Compensation.”
United cited Rule 25 incorrectly - while there are several issues with this rule such as the order for determining the losers (”may be determined based on a passenger’s fare class, itinerary, status of frequent flyer program membership, and the time in which the passenger presents him/herself for check-in without advanced seat assignment” while in this case they did a “lottery”) the passengers had in fact already boarded (and been seated) and could not be forced from their seats (they could have volunteered - free market solution - but United wasn’t willing to let the free market decide).
Rule 21 does address removal of a person from an aircraft for many reasons. None were cited by United. The fact he refused an illegal order and resisted will not be sufficient.
The vast majority recognize they could have been in his position so whether or not he has something in his past is irrelevant.
United is going to lose. Bigtime.
And if the lawyers are very smart they should seek a class action - find others who were forced out of their seats by United, likely will find a pattern of late arriving flight crews needing transport. Guess this is what happens when the inmates run the asylum (consider employee ownership of United issues).
Legal experts I have heard state that since the man was already seated inside the plane, united had no right to have him removed from the plane, and he was removed illegally. They say it would’ve been a different situation if he were in the terminal.
“But then, if you’ve ever flown United you know they’re a bunch of arrogant SOB’s.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How many of you watched Benny Hill? Remember a skit he did with something called “Benny Tours” and “Duffo Tours”? That comes to mind now.
“Benny Tours” would be Southwest Airlines
and
“Duffo Tours” would be United Airlines
“Blame lies at the feet of the pilot. He or she is in charge.”
The PIC does not become in charge till the plane starts moving under its own power for purpose of flight.
They might be better off by changing some of their policies.
Good start, but what should happen is the cops go to jail for assault and United pays the doctor 25 million.
“How many of you watched Benny Hill? “
I love that holy man of God and his pristine white suit. I have sent him and his wonderful ministry many donations over the years.
Maybe Target and United can switch CEOs.
Vouchers might work with frequent United flyers, but if not switch to cash and keep upping it until a volunteer comes forward. Better than involuntary “booting” or blood on your plane!
I wonder if Republic Airways “IDB” policy is slightly different than United’s mainline policy? (It was a Republic flight/codeshare). They are in bankruptcy and may be getting cheap!
People would have taken cash but were not inclined to take the voucher "good toward the full price of a future flight with United (unless of course, United decides otherwise and 27 pages of fine print about still more loopholes)" because many had already decided that this would be their LAST flight with this carrier.
And people wonder why I have quit traveling by air domestically. :)
From what I see, you've argued that UAL breached the contract of carriage. Okay, so they lose. What is the remedy and what are the damages? See too, Rule 28.
>>Legal experts I have heard state that since the man was already seated inside the plane, united had no right to have him removed from the plane, and he was removed illegally. They say it would’ve been a different situation if he were in the terminal.<<
I just browsed UA’s COC. Although there may be something there it appears he might be capped at the flight cost. Once they told him to get off, for any reason, he can’t disobey. It was security that took him off.
He has been compensated for the tickets so I don’t see where the suit has merit.
But you never know. A lot of lawyers willing to get in the news to take this, even if it is a loser.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.