He’ll be in court alright. It will be a case of failure to follow orders of a law enforcement agent.
What he has planned has no bearing or consideration on the part of United. It’s unfortunate, but it’s not United’s fault. They overbooked the flight, but that happens. Sometimes you have to get crew somewhere so that they can work a flight. You can’t drive them per union contract policy. Sucks but it’s the reality of it.
What happened to the old "stand-by" procedure. If the airline is going to overbook, then everyone purchasing a ticket after the flight is "full" is in a stand-by status and will only board if there are empty seats. You used to be able to save a little bit of money .. particularly servicemen .. if you weren't in a hurry to get somewhere.
From a PR standpoint and simple courtesy to your customers this should NEVER have happened. If the flight is overbooked you keep upping the offer for people to volunteer to take the next flight. $800 voucher did not do it so offer $500 cash money and avoid this kind of crap. If nobody takes $500, offer $600.
It really seems quite simple and in hindsight how much easier would this have been for everyone involved? This is corporate stupidity in the extreme and the optics alone are enough to erase $100 million in advertising.
No, they didn't. Don't believe their initial lies. They aren't even trying sell that load of excreta any more.
You are either a United senior manager or bucking to join up! With your attitude, you’ll rise right to the top of the UAL management team. And from where I sit, it sucks to be you.
Doesn’t matter, and this line of thinking is short-sighted. Yes he may lose a court battle (and that’s not a certainty) but it IS United’s Fault for overbooking and then forcibly removing a paying customer and the result is horrendous PR. They will lose revenue and way more revenue than any other solution would have cost. I likely will never fly United based on this story alone and I’m sure I’m not alone in my feeling.