United Airlines fun...

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I'm Gold with them. I much preferred Continental.

 

Listen, it stinks but if they tell you to leave the plane get up and leave, don't be an ahole.

 

I've had a lot of discussions about this. An analogy I like to use is that of a tenant and landlord. Prior to move in day, it's easy as a landlord to change your mind and not rent the apartment. Once the tenant moves in, pays rent in time, keeps the place up and doesn't bother the neighbors, what right does the landlord have to make the tenant move out so the landlord's brother can move in? I look at this particular situation as if it was my 19 year old daughter who just came home to visit and now has to head back to college for finals week. Can't miss the exams, hasn't bothered anyone and is happily seated. Would a 19 year old girl have gotten manhandled the same way by Chicago's finest? This one isn't going to make it to the courts but there were some valuable lessons learned.

 

Not the same situation, there has to be control by the airlines what happens on their planes. If, for any reason you are asked to leave the plane you should peacefully leave the plane. You don't have constitutional rights on a plane. You should have the right to sue or other legal recourse if you are removed for invalid reasons.

 

I respectfully disagree. The first question asked by law enforcement should have been, is the individual affecting the safety of the flight? In this case the answer would have been no. The cops should have then replied, this is a civil matter that doesn't warrant a response from law enforcement. If the airplane would have been too heavy due to long flight,(extra fuel, routing around weather, etc.) then the response would have been that yes, the individual is affecting the safety of the flight and then removed by law enforcement. Regionals are not always able to offer as much in the way of incentive as the main line carriers. If someone walked down the aisle with 10 Benjamin Franklins offering them to the first person to walk off, someone would have jumped at the chance and opened the needed seat. Would have saved United a lot. I hope this brings change to how passengers are allowed to be treated. Airlines are notorious for overbooking and treating passengers poorly. The laws are in place due to a strong airline lobby and no one is looking out for the little guy.

 

Also, it's not a constitutional issue. I believe the individual had a contractual right to his seat as he had done nothing to void his right to that seat.

 

If they have a contractual right that would come from the constitution

 

I guess we would need to see what the fine print says when you buy tickets. I'm sure the airlines have this covered and if you agree when you buy the ticket your rights are very limited.

 

Well, United already changed their policy on deadheading crews ( the 4 employees who had to get to Louisville) requiring them to be booked an hour prior to departure thus the bump would have happened before boarding. I believe United was supposed to give the passenger something in writing prior to having him removed and they failed to do that. Wbile they might tighten up their "contract of carriage" it is also likely they will ensure situations like this are handled more professionally.

Not going to debate constitutional vs contractual issue as you're not going to change my mind.

 

That's the nice thing about this place, we can discuss something we don't necessarily agree on and still be friendly. Unlike 95% of everyone else on the net.

 

I was sort of leaning in favor of the airline too until I realized that while not a constitutional right, the airlines do have regulations (just as loggers, farmers, truck drivers, etc do), and in this case they failed to do so through the proper channels as prescribed by law. Constitutional rights...no, but they cannot operate above the law that is designed to protect the public either. They took a heavy handed approach and now face something tougher then the FAA: Public Scrutiny.

 

Well, the removed passenger stood up for what he thought were his rights, right? He still got the boot. But will end up better off.

He who laughs last type of thing, no?

 

Geesh... and, here I thought this would be just a fun thread... ... I'm perty sure, after United pays a lot of to the doc, out of court, we'll see 3-4 seats available (not booked) on every United flight (to move crews around) from now on.

 

It is a fun thread. No worries.