This, I mean why let the people board? That just creates a worse situation. Terrible set of circumstances. I hope they get hammered for this.
I am fine with overbooking, but you got to keep upping the offer until you get takers before you board the plane. Also should be straight cash not vouchers. You take the offer and they just peel off Benjamin's at the counter and rebook you. United was just like nobody took our offer, so to remedy the situation we will just call some rent a cops to forcible remove a passenger from the plane. I guess it works fine until a true patriot is like doesn't work that way. Gets removed, bloodily stumbles back onto the plane and collects bank down the road anyway.
How comfortable would you be if you saw someone get drug off the plane while screaming......then return nonchalantly a little while later with busted lips
You agree to their contract of carriage when you buy a ticket. It's kind of the tradeoff for the airlines' ability to get you across the world with incredible speed and, more often than not, with an expectation of arrival within minutes of their estimate. If he cooperated, he could have been in Louisville by car within four and a half hours. FYI -- https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/contract-of-carriage.aspx#sec25
I wonder where they would stop with the incentives? What if they said a stewardess would literally suck your dick to completion
I don't think anyone believes United isn't legally allowed to do this, but it's a shitty situation that's really caused by nothing more than greed.
AA at least sets the expectations correctly when they over book. If they don't get any volunteers they warn the passengers that bought their tickets last that they will likely be the one's getting bumped.
To the first part, I think you're overestimating people. To the second, if the practice were outlawed fares would increase significantly.
The optics are definitely bad. I just don't feel any degree of sympathy for the dude for putting himself in that position. It's not like there wasn't an alternative to making them physically remove him from his seat.
The reason they boarded the plane was to see if everyone actually showed up and got on. It would be just as bad to have a line and just all of a sudden stop the last four in line. My guess is that he was asked/told multiple times and warned that if he didn't go then the police would remove him. He made the choice, knowing what would happen. Think about it this way: Not one single passenger agreed to get off voluntarily. The others that were selected went as asked. 4 people inconvenienced. Would you rather have 4 people inconvenienced or 50-100 when there's not a crew to fly another plane in the morning? Context matters. It's a shitty situation, but this way minimizes the impact.
But, he's a doctor and was calling his lawyer to prove that his time was more valuable than the other passengers'.
This is basically my thought. I understand that he was offered the chance to leave, but I don't get why someone who paid for their ticket, and was on the plane, got told he had to give it up. If United's employees had to get to Louisville, United should have paid for a private plane, or put them on another airline if no one would give up their seat.
(1) They didn't target him. They randomly chose him. Every other passenger had an equal likelihood of selection. The others who were selected complied. (2) Because those aren't the terms of the contract of carriage, which were agreed to when he purchased his ticket. If his time was too valuable to risk getting bumped from the flight, he could have paid for a private plane, taken another airline, or driven.
I understand that, that doesn't mean I have to think it's right. Do it like American does and the last 4 tickets that were purchased get selected, not anyone at random.
It was luck of the draw on who got told to bounce. I bet if you showed up in Louisville this morning to fly out and got told you have a 4 hour delay because Shock Linwood wouldn't give up his seat you'd be pretty steamed.
I don't think that would be any more fair. People who buy tickets far in advance (vacation travelers) typically don't have the same urgency in getting back as those who buy at the last minute (business travelers/emergencies).
I don't think that's any more fair, and is more likely to inconvenience emergency travelers. Replace doctor with kid traveling to see a dying parent and it's not like their PR is getting better.
It's totally fair. You book your flight last minute, you've set the expectation that you might get fucked. You plan ahead and book early, you're good.
I'm not arguing fairness. I'm arguing that someone that has purchased their ticket shouldn't be forced to leave the flight because the airline oversold their flight. That's no the flight, give the 4 people that need seats the voucher. Why are the 4 needing seats more important than the 4 giving them up?
What if they bounced the doctor for yes let me plan for my dad to get hit by a drunk driver and be clinging to life support in 17 weeks.
I didn't say it was unfair. I said it isn't more fair than the policy they used. If that was the policy, then I'd be fine with it. My point was just that selecting the final four to book wouldn't automatically make the situation any better (or worse, for that matter).
The whole ordeal caused all the people on that flight to be 2 hours late, so a delay obviously wasn't the problem.
And also this, It's not like that one flight was the only possible way for those flight attendants to get to Louisville by the next day.
$800 probably wasn't shit to that guy if he had a rough day(s) travelling. Being stuck in an airport or flying an extended period of time will fundamentally change you.
I'm sure they would have found a different way if they could have without pushing the crew's available hours. They don't have to give their employees vouchers for getting bumped.
When asked why the airline had the man forcibly removed, and whether that was standard procedure in cases of overbooked flights, United refused to comment. Instead they told BuzzFeed News all further questions should be referred to Chicago Police. BuzzFeed News contacted Chicago Police and were told to contact the Chicago Department of Aviation. When BuzzFeed News contacted the Chicago Department of Aviation they were transferred to a TSA message bank. A TSA spokesperson later told BuzzFeed News they were not involved and to contact Chicago Police.
The thing with that is there are regulations that say the flight crew has to be on the ground and rested for a certain number of hours before a flight so that they don't crash and kill everyone.
Getting pretty extreme with our variables considering the instance here is someone getting booted off so 4 employees can get to work.