United Airlines fun...

Here are 1134 opinions on the matter for those with a little spare time and some curiosity.

USA Today: UA forcibly remove random pax from flight - PPRuNe Forums

 

decent people cooperate

however bumping non-volunteers is gonna get you bad press in this day and age of social media and instant news

 

They never seem to pick on the Jason Bourne type ?

That would make a good U-tube video

'
'
'
Bet they'll wish they'd flew the crew to their destination on SouthWest

 

I hear you, as a spouse of a United CSR, she's 30 yrs. + in the game.
I do get my back up on occasion when I have to defend her, but I never really have to defend her. She's part of the A-team.
So, internal scuttlebutt with this situation-
First off- all airlines overbook. They expect "X" amount of people to not make a certain flight, whether it be to no-shows, weather, mechanicals, etc.
When It comes to asking people to de-board, they go through a list to see who paid the least for the flight, and start there. It's not a lottery.
They ask those people to de-board and offer compensation. It's usually crazy high numbers, but I guess it works out for them.
Now, the other 3 folks asked to de-board did so without issue. This guy didn't want to. He was #4 on the list. So, how do the attendants approach #5?
"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but we'll have to ask you to exit the plane. The gentleman 4 rows behind you was designated to depart but refused, so I'm afraid you'll have to go."
So, put yourself in #5's spot.
Now, this was handled poorly, the agents who were called in were impatient in their handling of this situation. But recall, they were not United agents.
They were TSA or DHS agents, not United.
BTW- check the history of the claimant, can't wait to see full disclosure on this guy. It'll be settled out of court.

 

Hey BK, I don't believe any UA employees are at fault,
corporate procedures maybe, but none of the airline employees.

When I see what happened, I put most of the physical abuse of the guy on the police procedures.
This guy had done nothing illegal . He was a seated & paid , went thru boarding passenger

There are several better ways this could have been handled.

They could have tired #5 with no need to explain #4 at all .
#5 may have been happy to get $800 to get a later flight.
I'd do it & go buy a new MS 362 when I got home or , Maybe a Husqy 562XP.

Give #5 or # 6 or # 7 ...a better offer than $800.,until they got a taker. I read they could go to $1300.
Many would take the the deal, ( 3 out of 4 did for $800) this guy just didn't like the deal. so go to # 5..6..7..8....
Way better than physically removing already paid & seated passengers.
Their "removing paid & seated passengers" procedure , clearly needs tweaked a little.

I heard now the max is $3,000 , would be cheap under the circumstances they have now.

Betting corporate already has a better procedure in place

# 4 don't want to deplane :
Get on the intercom, "we need one passenger to give up their seat for $1300. Raise your hand if interested."
Hold up & wave 13 $100 dollar bills .

 

The flight supposedly wasn't overbooked
70 seats, 70 tickets
4 United employees showed up at the last minute after the flight was boarded ready to go needing to get to a destination.
United needed them there and on the flight so they asked for volunteers to take a flight later ...

The mainstream media could have framed this story from many angles, but if you take into consideration to which political party United PACs and principals favors with donations and support it's not surprising they framed this story along the lines of poisoning America's perspective of United.

There's always a story behind the story and what we are getting for news and what qualifies as "journalism" these days is getting rather pathetic.

 

Well the got 3 volunteers pretty easy,
didn't seem to be a "volunteer-able choice" for #4.

 

Apparently the call-out was made and no one volunteered . So what do you do?
Those 4 dead-heads had to get to their destination, otherwise that whole flight was toast. That just mucks up everything surrounding them.
#4 was the pebble in the pond, sending out ripples. They tried to curtail that, but did so poorly.

 

News media needs to sensationalize small stories to get their ratings up .
With no regard for facts or consequences

By the time all the facts come out, a new story will have taken its place

Living in different times for sure

 

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think they offer cash in these situations...I've given up my seat before and the only thing I was ever offered was future flight vouchers (worth $800 BTW...well, and a room/meals for the overnight stay)

 

Imagine flights out of Las Vegas, if they offered 1k in poker chips the plane would empty out.

 

Oh, that's easy!

 

That's pretty much what I remember too. And since I only fly every 3 years or so, that just isn't real attractive. Even if when I fly I am "only" going to see family - I only see them every 3 years or so, and I only get 3-4 days with them, so spending another day somewhere else needs a much better incentive for me (cash at least is something I could use near-tern). That being said, if it was for a soldier trying to get home, I would give my seat up in a heartbeat.

 

It doesn't always have to be vouchers.

Why Delta Air Lines Paid Me $11,000 Not To Fly To Florida This Weekend

 

That reminds me of a trip I was on in Texas. It was a training meeting and we all went out to eat. There was about 12 of us sitting around a big table, we all introduced ourselves and said where we lived. When we were finished a southern belle chimed in and said "You all Yankees!" my wife and I still laugh about it.

 

Just saw a news clip that United is looking for new public relations folks... ya don't say...

 

Controversial yes, political...don't think so. Fine line by any means.

 

As an airplane mechanic who works for all of the airlines at the airport, including the one this happened on, I find most of the opinions and analogies wrong.
The airline was required to move that crew to the correct airport in time by law.
They get fined if no crew is there and the plane is scheduled to depart.
The doc was holding the flight hostage to his temper tantrum. (This is federal law, disobey the flight crew and you are breaking the law)
He then refused the orders of a police officer, try that in your car, and see how long you remain in your vehicle.
He asked to be dragged off the plane and he got what he asked for.
Three other people got up and walked off like reasonable adults, he didn't and got treated like anybody who resists arrest.