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 ...
I remember an incident in 1968. I was flying military standby, in uniform, from Manhattan, KS (Fort Riley) to my home in Eugene, OR. We stopped in Boise. A white shirt and tie man from the airline got aboard and told me that someone needed to get on in Boise and that I was bumped.
I sat there for about thirty seconds and then told the man, “I think you are going to need more than just you to get me off this plane.”
It got real quiet.
The man got off and they finished refueling the plane and we took off for Eugene.
If they had offered me very much money to spend a night in Boise I sure would have taken it!
It’s a great idea. I wonder why the heck they didn’t do something similar in this case.
You can argue if you want. Public does not AUTOMATICALLY imply profit because you think so. Decisions are made and their lawyers have most certainly covered their bases.
Finally, I leave you with this. Your advice is to scream like a little b!tch when you are pulled off a plane because you decided to pump up lawsuit rather than talking it out. he could have dealt more like a real doctor than a little woman with a lawsuit. Don’t make me laugh.
Only a cannon-cocker can f**t like the roar of distant artillery.
;^)
The man somehow ran back onto the plane afterward, according to Bridges, disoriented and with a bloody face. A medical crew removed him from the plane a second time and passengers were asked to deplane so the crew could “tidy up.”
United should have raised the bid from $800. The lawsuit is going to cost them way more than that.
Overbooking - that should not even be legal. Period!
All airlines overbook and have for decades. Based on history, there is a statistical percentage who cancel at the last minute. Without overbooking as an option, ticket prices would rise (someone if going to pay for the plane, the crew, and the fuel).
They should never have boarded the flight if they knew they’d have to kick passengers off. Major blunder by the gate agents. This has to be settled before boarding, not after.
They should never have boarded the flight if they knew they’d have to kick passengers off. Major blunder by the gate agents. This has to be settled before boarding, not after.
$800 is NOT enough to make me want to stay in Chicago over night.(and appearantly not anyone else either!)
Throw in temporary use of some Type IV body armor, a $1000 weapon I can keep and at least 200 rounds of ammo might get my consideration.....
LOL...actually had a woman try to get my wife and I to put our kids on our lap so she could sit closer to the front due to her short connection. I damn near came unglued. We BOUGHT the tickets for the kids. Wife calmly tried to give her a soiled diaper and wipes and said, "You can sit next to them, we need a break. THAT one has diarrhea. Good luck".
She went on to badger another person. Finally the airline (SWA) sat her ass in the back and told her to be quiet.
Although it’s pretty terrible, there’s no grounds for a lawsuit because the condition of overbooking and how it is handled is in the contract of carriage (which is the contract between the customer and united) and because the customer disobeyed lawful crew instructions which can actually be a crime. It’s because he resisted that he was dragged off the plane. It reminds me of how much I actually hate flying within the US from being treated like dirt by TSA to unfriendly airline employees.
As for others saying the airline should have offered more than $800 etc this is actually a case of government regulation failure. The maximum allowed by governmental regulation is $800. This is why airlines offer amounts for volunteers before this to just below the maximum. Some airlines also have an overbooking bid process in their check in where you can pick the least compensation you would be willing to take. If that regulation was removed (the regulation benefits the airlines surprise) the airlines would have to raise their offers ever higher until they had enough volunteers.
I fly United quite a bit, I have their top frequent flyer status, and I agree they treat their customers very poorly, especially if you don’t have frequent flyer status with them. They have some of the rudest, unfriendly staff around.
>>The airlines have to overbook because all the cancellations make it unprofitable if they don’t.
No they don’t. They simply need to charge people for their tickets, buy a seat, you get a seat. If you don’t show, you still pay for it - it is pretty simple actually.
Sounds like poor planning on United’s part and I hope this guy sues and wins some compensation, though I suspect the rules are stacked in the airlines favor.
Would you want a doctor that screeches like a boiled cat?
I haven't flown since 9/11. Don't miss it at all. I drive now or take the train.
Flying is such a far way away from what it used to be. Enforce nude tubes, fondling, nasty governmental and airline employees, and on on. United has some of the worst of the airline employees but...
$800 is the maximum allowed per the government regulation, they handled it according to their contract of carriage which is the contract between the customer and united, he disobeyed crew instructions, and then resisted (the last two are chargeable). He will not have grounds for a lawsuit. United adhered to their contract of carriage and appropriate regulations. This guy seems like he was unhinged considering he then tried to run back on the plane. I’m not saying it’s right it’s actually pretty terrible but that’s flying in the USA for you.
I imagine United will give him something because of the PR damage but he has no grounds for a lawsuit. The damage will come from the story, not from a lawsuit.
Very bad optics for all involved, no matter the reason by United.
I was also on a United flight that appeared not to be going to fly to my final destination because the crew that was set to take us got into some kind of brawl in a bar/restaurant and for a time they had no crew available or one that had flown their maximum hours. Finally, a crew arrived that was going to turn around and head back to their city of origin when tasked to service our flight.
The queen in charge of the flight suffered from massive Pissy Mood Syndrome, told us there would be NO service and that once seated, we would not be allowed out of our seats as they had heard about bad weather that had happened hours earlier but "could take no chances."
The guy all but body slammed a little old lady who declared the "need to use the restroom."
He slammed her back into her seat, telling her to rebuckle her seat belt and "not move until we were on the ground again!"
So much for the "friendly skies!"
“Fly the Friendly Skies”....riiiiiight.
The doctor will be settling for MUCH MORE than $800.
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