United Airlines Forces Man off of oversold flight

[TropicalDIS]

Should have been handled at the gate. Not sure what exactly United was waiting for.

Nobody took the voucher offer, so they randomly picked 4 people. 3 of whom got off the plane, probably unhappy about it but they got off.

This Doctor was the 4th name, and refused to leave. It could have been handled so much better, but once his name was called, he's getting off that plane. You can't decide not to take him off because he refuses, because then every other person is just going to do the exact same thing.

I don't have a problem with security being called to escort the guy off the plane, but they should have gone other routes before using force.

What i don't look is how he's trying to turn this into a anti-chinese incident. America is a multi-cultural society, and if you pick 4 people at random on a plane, chances are very high that at least 1 of them is going to be from a minority group.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

What if security grabs his carry on and leaves with it. I'm guessing the guy chases after them and once he leaves, they can immediately close the door.

Thoughts?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Agree! If you've read any of my past posts you'll now I am REALLY BIG on personal responsibility!! And it sounds like this guy did not handle himself well.

United has responsibilities. A responsibility to serve their customers. A lack of planning on the part of United Airlines does not constitute an emergency on the part of their customers. If they need to find transportation for their employees, they shouldn't bump paying customers.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I don't have a problem with security being called to escort the guy off the plane, but they should have gone other routes before using force..

I heard a passenger from the plane interviewed yesterday who said the first 2 security people who were dealing with this man were very patient, talked to him for a long time, tried to reason with him, etc. Didn't work - he refused to budge, and then the 3rd security person pulled the guy out of his seat, etc.

Let's be careful not to assume we have ALL facts and indict any security personnel involved. WAY TOO MUCH OF THAT in this country today. Way too much.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

What if security grabs his carry on and leaves with it. I'm guessing the guy chases after them and once he leaves, they can immediately close the door.

Thoughts?

That would have been better than what they did!

But that's only AFTER they failed to plan appropriately, failed to handle this at the gate, offer more money, etc, etc.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

United has responsibilities. A responsibility to server their customers. A lack of planning on the part of United Airlines does not constitute an emergency on the part of their customers. If they need to find transportation for their employees, they shouldn't bump paying customers.

Agree. Read my other posts... or even the rest of the post you quoted!

 

[DopeyDame]

Some of you may remember that I was vociferously defending United on the leggings thread. My mom worked for United for 35+ years and I have literally traveled the world on United thanks to those benefits.
I am *horrified*
Flight attendants instructions must be followed *to ensure the safety of passengers and crew* This was not a safety issue. This was a corporate convenience issue.

Of all my friends on facebook, the one that is most infuriated is a cop. As he points out, law enforcement is at an airport to keep people safe, not to be the hired thugs for the airlines. The fact that they took what was a dispute between a company and a customer and made it into a criminal matter is ridiculous. There are about a zillion other ways they could have handled it.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

What if security grabs his carry on and leaves with it. I'm guessing the guy chases after them and once he leaves, they can immediately close the door.

Thoughts?

I pictured that and giggled to myself. lol

I think that would have been better and he definitely would have ran after the officers. BUT then he may have tried to grab his bag back and then he would have been accused of "assaulting" an officer.

It's a jacked up situation that should have been handled before boarding.

 

[anniemae]

I kept saying all along they should have kept upping the price until people volunteered. I bet at $1000 they would have had people jumping to get off the flight.

I personally will never fly United again knowing I could be forced off a flight to accommodate staff members even though I played by the rules. Imagine if you were on your way to Disney? "But I can't leave tomorrow, I have fp's and ADR's and BBB booked!"

I saw something of FB this morning on Southwest Airlines. I don't know if it is from them or is someone just made a funny meme, but it said something like "SOUTHWEST AIRLINES....we beat our competitors, not you."

 

[kidshop]

I heard a passenger from the plane interviewed yesterday who said the first 2 security people who were dealing with this man were very patient, talked to him for a long time, tried to reason with him, etc. Didn't work - he refused to budge, and then the 3rd security person pulled the guy out of his seat, etc.

Let's be careful not to assume we have ALL facts and indict any security personnel involved. WAY TOO MUCH OF THAT in this country today. Way too much.

I also think it is fair to say that no one else wanted to get off the flight and no one certainly volunteered at any time previous or to replace this man when it became clear he wasn't going. He was picked as the unlucky victim and not a soul wanted to be in his situation.

 

[RedAngie]

I don't fault United. They maxed their offer and followed procedures by the book. Bringing in police is standard to remove someone off a plane. If the police overrreacted its not United's fault.

I don't fault United for the rough handling by the police. But I definitely fault the airline for allowing that situation to even occur. The IDB should have been sorted out before any passengers boarded the flight.

Apparently not always. My son's travel for a job interview this weekend was really messed up because Delta couldn't get his flight crew there in time. His first leg ended up delayed by 5 hours so he missed his connecting flight. He ended up having to stay the night in Minneapolis (without his checked bag) and couldn't get out of there until 7:30 the next night.

Relatively speaking, he's one of the fortunate ones. There are STILL some passengers waiting to get home from cancelled/delayed flights four days earlier.

By the way, did he have to pay for the hotel on his own dime?

 

[kinntj]

This may not affect United here in the States, but over in China where they compete with Government sponsored airlines, they might have an issue. I don't like where this has taken us as a society and what we're willing to just put up with. I know the guy is rumored to have drug issues, but they still need to change up their policy regarding overbooked flights. I'm happy that the security agent was disciplined. That amount of force was over the top. Will airlines treat compliant passengers differently in the future since their "line" seems to be changing? I'm glad there's a stink over this!

 

[anniemae]

I pictured that and giggled to myself. lol

I think that would have been better and he definitely would have ran after the officers. BUT then he may have tried to grab his bag back and then he would have been accused of "assaulting" an officer.

It's a jacked up situation that should have been handled before boarding.

It made me LOL too!! I though of my kids fighting over a toy and one grabbing it and running. Then the other running after him saying "MOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!" Would have worked like a charm.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I personally will never fly United again knowing I could be forced off a flight to accommodate staff members even though I played by the rules.

I wonder how many airlines have the same rules and this just hasn't come to blows?! I'd bet most if not all... now I'm curious... Must research JetBlue...

 

[mi*vida*loca]

When they offer compensation is it vouchers or cash?

I was bumped from a Southwest flight due to maintenance. I received $1200 in vouchers for our family of 4. We had no plans to fly in the next year (they expired exactly one year) so they were really of no value to me but a flight attendant told me anyone can use them. So I read between the lines and I sold them to a friend going to WDW.

I can see this being an issue with vouchers that expire and people who don't have plans to fly anytime soon. So they don't take the compensation. If they offered cash I'm sure people would be jumping at that much quicker.

 

[TropicalDIS]

I heard a passenger from the plane interviewed yesterday who said the first 2 security people who were dealing with this man were very patient, talked to him for a long time, tried to reason with him, etc. Didn't work - he refused to budge, and then the 3rd security person pulled the guy out of his seat, etc.

Let's be careful not to assume we have ALL facts and indict any security personnel involved. WAY TOO MUCH OF THAT in this country today. Way too much.

Not trying to indict anybody. I said they should have gone other routes before using any force. Sounds like they tried.

It's a tough situation that security was dumped into. As i said before, that guy is coming off that plane.

Would have been tempted just to sit down beside him and be like "Well, this plane's not moving until you get off sir, but we can sit here at the gate all day until that happens."

Eventually the rest of the passengers are going to turn on him.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I also think it is fair to say that no one else wanted to get off the flight and no one certainly volunteered at any time previous or to replace this man when it became clear he wasn't going. He was picked as the unlucky victim and not a soul wanted to be in his situation.

Yeah... ... As I've said multiple times, I think the rule should be that the airline pays the MARKET PRICE to get people off a flight when it's their mismanagement that led to the situation. MARKET PRICE defined as what people on that flight are willing to accept to get off the plane... without being DRAGGED off...

 

[anniemae]

I wonder how many airlines have the same rules and this just hasn't come to blows?! I'd bet most if not all... now I'm curious... Must research JetBlue...

I heard that jet blue has a policy of not overbooking flights. I know the flight was not technically overbooked, more of a "we suddenly need to make room for our employees" situation. After this incident, I doubt any other airline will go the route United did.

 

[JaxDad]

United has responsibilities. A responsibility to server their customers. A lack of planning on the part of United Airlines does not constitute an emergency on the part of their customers. If they need to find transportation for their employees, they shouldn't bump paying customers.

While I generally agree with you, I think it depends...

If the four United employees missed their scheduled flight for some legitimate reason (e.g. weather delay), and this flight was the only option for them to get to Louisville to work, then they definitely should have bumped customers on that flight. If not, United may have had to "bump" the entire flight for which they were bound to work! I also doubt driving to Louisville was an option for them due to FAA and/or union restrictions.

 

[TropicalDIS]

I also think it is fair to say that no one else wanted to get off the flight and no one certainly volunteered at any time previous or to replace this man when it became clear he wasn't going. He was picked as the unlucky victim and not a soul wanted to be in his situation.

He was picked as 1 of 4 unlucky victims. The other 3 passengers walked off without incident.