Posted on 04/10/2017 7:37:53 AM PDT by BulletBobCo
“No, this is wrong,” a woman shouts at security officers in the video.”Oh my God, look at what you did to him!”
A disturbing video was uploaded to Facebook by Audra Bridges Sunday night. It shows a full United flight sitting at a Chicago airport and bound for Louisville. But there was a problem – United had overbooked the flight, they needed four seats for their stand-by crew and no one was volunteering to give up their spot.
That problem led to a violent confrontation as security forced one passenger off the plane, who said he was a doctor and couldn’t take a later flight because he had patients to see at his hospital in the morning.
Bridges, a Louisville resident, told the Courier-Journal that United announced in the terminal Sunday night that the flight was overbooked and offered passengers $400 and a night at a hotel to give up their seat and opt for a flight at 3 p.m. on Monday. No one volunteered, and passengers boarded the flight. United told the full flight that they couldn’t take off without the four seats, then upped the offer to $800 plus a night at a hotel, but still no one volunteered.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
The tweets are brutal =>
“I keep trying to think of ways United Airlines could have ****ed up more today, and all I have is they didn’t set the passenger on fire.
11:39 PM - 10 Apr 2017
269 269 Retweets 856 856 likes
Yes, I see the account you relate in much later updates of this story than were in the original account. You can see him being pulled out and screaming in the original video and being bumped. The blood, calling his lawyer, etc. descriptions weren’t in that video.
Regardless, he was ordered to vacate the seat and did not. He didn’t deserve to get hurt, but he shouldn’t have resisted either. This will play out in the court and I’m sure he’ll be compensated. Anyway, thanks for the update.
“Everyone thinks they are so important now.”
Some people actually have jobs and responsibilities to attend to.
I am indeed so important that I do not wish to accommodate incompetence of airlines in overbooking flights and not having crews where they are needed.
Wait! He was traveling with his wife. What happened to her? Were they separated? Was she bumped as well?
“The company would’ve been better off buying tickets on a competitor’s flight to transport those employees. Or offer more money. They don’t make management like they used to. What boneheads.”
Agree; in fact, I believe that some airlines have working agreements to dead-head employees so to preposition them as needed. Actually, UA was positioning these employees for a next day flt I believe. So, there was lots of flexibility and options available. But, as you stated; boneheaded management. Got a feeling though, after settling with this guy the light bulb may come on.....
It’s unbelievable what a fool this man is. I’d fire him in a heartbeat.
Exactly right. “Cash is King”.
Twelve years ago, my wife and I were flying United from London to Kansas City. The flights were to have taken about 12 hours. Forty-Seven and a half hours later I said I would not intentionally fly United again and I didn’t give them my money for the next twelve years. I generally flew about a hundred flights a year.
Then you’d better not fly because airlines are not all that reliable even discounting the overbooking issue.
Anyone who flies a lot knows the pitfalls of flying.
This flight was not overbooked. United needed four seats to transport their crew to a different plane.
United has made itself a target. I flew them maybe twice and was unhappy both times. Never booked on them again. They deserve whatever happens at this point.
Thank you! This is the nut of it. The incident has wide ranging (and sobering) implication far beyond its value as forum fodder or to media for milking as >outrage du jour.
Sigh, again, don’t need to know the whole situation.... We know enough to know United EFFED itself, and effed itself royal. Pointing out the “legally allowed” right of them to do something is irrelevant.
Bashing some 69 year old mans face into a headrest and dragging his bleeding body off the plane because you decided to not honor your ticket, is all that is needed to be known.
You seem to think that arguing that the airline has a “right” to do something means its all okay.. its not. Not even close... Video of a 69 year old man clinging to a bulkhead, with blood running down his face, repeatedly saying “just kill me” because he is clearly traumatized is going to burn in everyones brains that sees it for a long long time.
I have the right to walk over a man lying in the street after he has been hit by a car without stopping or offering any attempt at aid, but that doesn’t stop the fact that makes me an arsehole if I do it. Arguing the “legal authority” to do something shows you fail to even grasp the problem. It doesn’t matter if United was within their rights to do so... though I suspect that this man will get a very very big payout when the dust is settled... You can’t bounce a mans face off an armrest just because you want him off your plane.... This situation is more than just PR... there will be at the very least tort repercussions for folks actions in this... That I assure you.
Knowing how an airline operates, does not mean that they are not going to pay for their actions. United absolutely fried themselves today, and their CEO showed that this wasn’t just some callous act by a rogue crew, his attempt at spin just made it worse... talking about “reaccommodating” customers... You cant RE ACCOMMODATE someone you never ACCOMMODATED in the first place.. unless of course you think bashing his face off an armrest and dragging his bloody body down an aisle is accommodating them.
United will pay dearly for this... They think they won’t, I am sure they think this will be forgotten, but I think like Target, their arrogance will be rewarded with a hard dose of reality.
Whatever.
Be sure to read all the fine print if you fly.
#United Breaks Guitars
I don’t understand this either. Is $800 their limit?
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