SJL shows up and is treated the same as they always treat her and other politicians. There is only one seat available but then... a cancellation appears on the passenger list and they escort SJL and company to their seats.
Meanwhile, this teacher from Washington, DC finally makes it to that airport and now wants the airline to give her back her seat that she had cancelled.
Sure, SJL is a corrupt and racist politician, but I think this is a setup to distract people. We expect her to be at fault, so we believe it.
I don't think the facts support it.
If she cancelled then it does not matter.
Where did you read of this very contradictory version of events?
A-ha. I read in another source. United said she cancelled AFTER she got her boarding pass. The flight was already considerably delayed.
It seems really odd to cancel after you’ve already received a boarding pass.
One scenario I can imagine: Customer kept being informed the plane was delayed, perhaps even with a wait time that wasn’t being updated. She cancels her flight and then, VIOLA! The plane is there! So now she wants on after all.
OR: She tries to book another flight, and between cancelling the one flight and finalizing the purchase, the plane shows up. Now, to her, she hasn’t finalized the purchase but to United, she already cancelled her flight.
In either scenario, United is being disingenuous saying she cancelled her flight. She’s in the airport with a boarding pass. If there’s something screwy about a cancellation, that’s almost certainly because they’re late with the plane. Someone there should know all that. Trying to put a Congresswoman on a loaded plane just because the plane hasn’t taken off is just sucky.
That said, it’s not the CONGRESSWOMAN’S fault how United bumped her; she doesn’t know any of this. But her response, “she’s only mad she got bumped because it was a black person who bumped her” is totally her fault.
Source?