Please think twice about flying United

[beastlyprince]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/new-vide...turning-plane-forcibly-removed-185220992.html

 

[NeuroCindy]

This has always been United's policy. "If a flight is oversold, no one may be denied boarding against his/her will until UA or other carrier personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservations willingly in exchange for compensation as determined by UA. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with UA’s boarding priority." In fact it's the policy of most airlines. That doesn't make it less crappy, but it's their policy.

It should also be noted it wasn't United that physically removed the passenger, it was CPD. They are the ones that got violent and will most likely (rightfully) have a lawsuit brought against them.

 

[MK2010]

Hope Pete does a rant on this today! Policy or not, this is not how you treat another human.

 

[KingLlama]

This has always been United's policy. "If a flight is oversold, no one may be denied boarding against his/her will until UA or other carrier personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservations willingly in exchange for compensation as determined by UA. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with UA’s boarding priority." In fact it's the policy of most airlines. That doesn't make it less crappy, but it's their policy.

It should also be noted it wasn't United that physically removed the passenger, it was CPD. They are the ones that got violent and will most likely (rightfully) have a lawsuit brought against them.

Cindy, you've hit on the one thing that could have prevented this whole fiasco. Like the policy or not, this isn't a story if the whole thing had been handled BEFORE people had boarded.

 

[NeuroCindy]

To clarify, I never said it was right, I said it was their policy. People wouldn't be enraged if the man wasn't assaulted though, so half of this rage at United should be directed at CPD, who are using the excuse (in their official statement) that "he fell".

I also think United can do a way better job at moving their employees around. They shouldn't ever need to bump paying customers for employees.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think it is one of those things were the specifics of the circumstances make it look like United was being really inconsiderate, as this person was a physician trying to get back to his patients and thus didn't want to/couldn't take a later flight, and they were bumping him for a United worker, not even another paying customer

And the tweet and then internal memo from the CEO didn't necessarily make it seem like they were all that apologetic.

Seems like this has always been the way with United but things have gotten worse after the merger with Continental (apparently the former Continental workers refer to themselves as "ex-Cons" rather than United employees)

 

[jeffbear]

This has always been United's policy. "If a flight is oversold, no one may be denied boarding against his/her will until UA or other carrier personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservations willingly in exchange for compensation as determined by UA. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with UA’s boarding priority." In fact it's the policy of most airlines. That doesn't make it less crappy, but it's their policy.

It should also be noted it wasn't United that physically removed the passenger, it was CPD. They are the ones that got violent and will most likely (rightfully) have a lawsuit brought against them.

Absolutely correct on all counts. Their policy is what it is and all passengers have access to that information before booking. Not that anybody reads that stuff, but it's in the fine print and is binding none the less. That said, there's absolutely no reason for United to EVER end up actually treating paying customers that way. None. It doesn't even make financial sense, since carriers have all sorts of inter-carrier discounts for shuttling employees around in a pinch. Two major airports in a city and you want to say you can't get four human beings on an alternate flight? Bull. It happens all the time.

Personally I made United my airline of last resort years ago anyway, along with US Air for completely different reasons. So they certainly wouldn't notice if I boycotted them now.

 

[rteetz]

It's such an interesting situation. Should force have been taken like it was no I don't believe so. Is it United's right to remove people from the plane yes. I know they offered compensation before removing so my question is why couldn't they get anyone to take that offer. Could they have offered more before resorting to this? I have a strong feeling a lawsuit is gonna come from this and United is suffering from incredibly bad press right now.

 

[KingLlama]

Two other thoughts...

1. There's only one winner in this whole situation: Pepsi.

2. This only goes to show how badly some people want to get out of Chicago. Or how badly some people want to get to Kentucky. Or both.

 

[NeuroCindy]

Two other thoughts...

1. There's only one winner in this whole situation: Pepsi.

2. This only goes to show how badly some people want to get out of Chicago. Or how badly some people want to get to Kentucky. Or both.

Chicago's great. Everyone is dying to come visit me.

 

[GeneralTso]

United was just being cheap. No one took their $800 plus hotel offer. They should have increased it. Stupid.

 

[DLgal]

This is not the fault of the CPD (although they did use excessive force, but that's a separate issue). This is the fault of the GATE CREW not doing their jobs well. They should have increased the bump offer as high as they were allowed to go, and then bump people (if they had to) BEFORE boarding. Once you have allowed a passenger to board the plane, they should only be removed by force if THEY do something wrong. If they couldn't get enough people to make room for the employees, then they resort to finding them a spot on another airline.

 

[Sean91]

 

[mgsquared]

Boycotting United is not that easy for those who live in areas where it's the main airline flying out. I hope they get sued. I feel awful for this doctor and it's not ok what they did. I'm surprised no one took the $800! DH and I spent an extra night in Orlando on Friday because United needed volunteers to fly the next morning due to overbooking. We got a $600 voucher each and they paid for the hotel and dinner. Was a no brainer to us and we're happy to have a future trip's airfare covered. This all happened before this incident and now I of course would rather not fly united but it's done. I also keep wondering if someone would have been forcibly removed had we not volunteered? This is also super common with United no? Because on the flight to MCO we kept hearing announcements for a United flight next to us looking for volunteers where the offer went up to $1000!
My takeaway now is that flying on a Friday with two days to spare is great and if you fly United and have time- you can get your flights for your next Disney trip covered. And if you can volunteer - do! It might save a doctor or someone headed to their kids wedding. Because apparently having your seat and being in it is not enough...

 

[DopeyDame]

Two other thoughts...

1. There's only one winner in this whole situation: Pepsi.

2. This only goes to show how badly some people want to get out of Chicago. Or how badly some people want to get to Kentucky. Or both.

Two winners: Pepsi and Delta. No one's remembering Delta's weekend stranding of passengers, because at least none of their passengers ended up bloody!

 

[Cousin Orville]

CNN Money:

United loses $1 Billion in market value after man dragged off flight

 

[troglodytis]

There is nothing in United's terms that allow for deplaning passengers involuntarily due to overbooking or employee travel. You can be denied boarding for it, but not deplaned. United's contract reasons for deplaning a passenger are specific, separated from denying boarding, and not applicable to this situation.

 

[Alicenwonderment]

Two other thoughts...

1. There's only one winner in this whole situation: Pepsi.

2. This only goes to show how badly some people want to get out of Chicago. Or how badly some people want to get to Kentucky. Or both.

What is so good about KY besides basketball and horses? lol

 

[KingLlama]

What is so good about KY besides basketball and horses? lol

How much time you got?

 

[disneymath]

It seems United never learns. A musician originally from my hometown had an issue with UA breaking his guitar a few years back ... long story short, it took him creating a video that went viral before they took responsibility. (Obviously what happened in this latest incident is far more serious.)

In case you're interested in the guitar saga ... first video is linked below.