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United Airlines violently drags a doctor off a plane so employee could take his seat

Why do you fly United?


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B

bomb

Unconfirmed Member
As someone else pointed out, the drive to where the crew had to be was 4.5 hours and they had more than 4.5 hours to get there.

so you're an airline employee. You are going to want to drive 5 hours? Surely not. Also, what is the liability for the airline if they get in a car crash? Employees usually need to be on a companies insurance policy to drive a vehicle. LOL. An airline employee driving a rental car gets in a accident and they are not on the companies insurance. talk about a lawsuit.
 

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
so you're an airline employee. You are going to want to drive 5 hours? Surely not. Also, what is the liability for the airline if they get in a car crash? Employees usually need to be on a companies insurance policy to drive a vehicle. LOL. An airline employee driving a rental car gets in a accident and they are not on the companies insurance. talk about a lawsuit.

I can't tell if your posts are sarcasm/trolling or not.

Thing is it's basically a united gift card only for plane rides, I'da taken it too otherwise

One airline I was on offered $1k amex gift card. You've never seen volunteers move so fast, haha.
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
first one police officer told him he had to leave the plane..then a second was called to assist..still he refused..then a third officer was brought in..still he refused..then he was forcibly removed.
It was his fault force was used in the end..he chose that.

And it had to be him? They couldn't have picked someone else after hearing this guy's story?
 
I like how people spend more time criticizing how consumers respond to being inconvenienced by bullshit than they do criticizing that anticonsumer bullshit, even when it serves no purpose other than to let United make more money off of inconveniencing their own paying customers.

It's really mind boggling how once you get consumers to accept something as normal, plenty of people will spend a whole lot of effort to find reasons to not hold companies to a higher standard.

We could try and turn the conversation back on the customers every time a company gets caught in a controversy over their lack of respect for said customers, but how about United just stops with the asshole policies?
 

Barzul

Member
I do. I'd consider $800 but it's not an instant 'accept' in that sort of a situation (and I'm not a guy that is well off by any means). If you are on a flight, you are either going to or returning from a vacation (or business). Typically either way deadlines are involved. Going to a wedding, checking in to a hotel, meeting friends or family, going somewhere on business, returning home to work, etc.

$800 is right around the range where I probably wouldn't take it most incidents. I can't miss any more work, I won't make the wedding, this will eat into my vacation time, I already paid for a hotel/museum tickets, etc. Any number of things. Mind you, if they increase the offer then there are more circumstances where I would accept. That is why team 'they should have offered more' seems so reasonable, because a few people were bound to be swayed by a bit more cash.

Yeah I think $1200 would be the point where I'd jump on it.
 

Forearms

Member
so you're an airline employee. You are going to want to drive 5 hours? Surely not. Also, what is the liability for the airline if they get in a car crash? Employees usually need to be on a companies insurance policy to drive a vehicle. LOL. An airline employee driving a rental car gets in a accident and they are not on the companies insurance. talk about a lawsuit.

...maybe try the option of NOT purposefully over-booking the flight that is supposed to get your employees to their destination?
 

Faddy

Banned
so you're an airline employee. You are going to want to drive 5 hours? Surely not. Also, what is the liability for the airline if they get in a car crash? Employees usually need to be on a companies insurance policy to drive a vehicle. LOL. An airline employee driving a rental car gets in a accident and they are not on the companies insurance. talk about a lawsuit.

For the thousands of dollars United was paying in standby compensation the flight crew could have got a limo to Chicago.
 
so you're an airline employee. You are going to want to drive 5 hours? Surely not. Also, what is the liability for the airline if they get in a car crash? Employees usually need to be on a companies insurance policy to drive a vehicle. LOL. An airline employee driving a rental car gets in a accident and they are not on the companies insurance. talk about a lawsuit.

You don't know what the hell you are talking about. An airline employee gets in an accident while driving a rental car so he can go do his job is taken care of by workers' compensation, for one thing. Secondly, the airline surely has broad insurance coverage, if they are not self-insured themselves. There is no significant liability issue here.

Stop making excuses for United. Sending the crew in a rental car was a perfectly reasonable option.
 

CTLance

Member
I mean, once you get to the stage of deliberating whether or not to call the cops, shouldn't you look at the cash-equivalent you are allowed to give them, then just call out the cutest stewardess, have her proclaim that as a special one time customer appreciation bonus, four people randomly drawn from volunteers get to sit in a luxurious limousine and be driven to their destination with pomp and a hefty on board bar (and all you can eat snack selection).

That's the most hilarious aspect of this... it wasn't even a long distance or international flight. There was no need to press down so hard.

They could have just rented a limousine with driver, spent some money on alcohol & whatever else is needed, and have the passengers arrive maybe two hours later than they would with the plane, but thoroughly wasted and happy. It'd have been a grand old adventure, damn good PR, and would probably still have been about as expensive as the 800-per-person vouchers.
 
I like how people spend more time criticizing how consumers respond to being inconvenienced by bullshit than they do criticizing that anticonsumer bullshit, even when it serves no purpose other than to let United make more money off of inconveniencing their own paying customers.

It's really mind boggling how once you get consumers to accept something as normal, plenty of people will spend a whole lot of effort to find reasons to not hold companies to a higher standard.

We could try and turn the conversation back on the customers every time a company gets caught in a controversy over their lack of respect for said customers, but how about United just stops with the asshole policies?

You are right of course. It's a shitty policy. However its one that every airline has. The only difference here is United appears to have a lower compensation cap ($800) than some other airlines.

I mean, once you get to the stage of deliberating whether or not to call the cops, shouldn't you look at the cash-equivalent you are allowed to give them, then just call out the cutest stewardess, have her proclaim that as a special one time customer appreciation bonus, four people randomly drawn from volunteers get to sit in a luxurious limousine and be driven to their destination with pomp and a hefty on board bar (and all you can eat snack selection).

That's the most hilarious aspect of this... it wasn't even a long distance or international flight. There was no need to press down so hard.

They could have just rented a limousine with driver, spent some money on alcohol & whatever else is needed, and have the passengers arrive maybe two hours later than they would with the plane, but thoroughly wasted and happy. It'd have been a grand old adventure, damn good PR, and would probably still have been about as expensive as the 800-per-person vouchers.
It's likely the simple fact that these people work for a massive faceless corporation where they have no control over anything and will likely be fired for any breach of protocol.
 

B.O.O.M

Member
Hope they get sued into oblivion. Fucking hate United. Worst flight experiences I have had ever with shitty planes, terrible staff who don't know shit (some even lies about made up 'facts') etc etc. I will avoid them like a plague. I rather pay a few extra if I have to to fly another flight.
 
B

bomb

Unconfirmed Member
For the thousands of dollars United was paying in standby compensation the flight crew could have got a limo to Chicago.

Overbooking happens all the time. They going to make it company policy for limo drives everytime?
 
you didn't read where after the delay someone then volunteered to skip the flight to let him back on the flight.
that scenario only happened after he resisted being removed..no one offered this first only after.

Ah yeah, my bad, totally justified the use of force!

Weird why the monetary values are put in the law. Just go straight to the physical violence and watch people happily volunteer their seats!
 

Calamari41

41 > 38
so you're an airline employee. You are going to want to drive 5 hours? Surely not. Also, what is the liability for the airline if they get in a car crash? Employees usually need to be on a companies insurance policy to drive a vehicle. LOL. An airline employee driving a rental car gets in a accident and they are not on the companies insurance. talk about a lawsuit.

When you're a public-facing company, you sacrifice your employees' convenience before your customers' convenience. The issue again is that airlines view their customers as no more than cattle, so you get the result here. Rather than put their employees on a bus, they fuck up a customer and drag him off of the plane.

And yes, United's employees would be covered under their insurance if they were given a car or thrown on a bus that crashed.
 

bloodydrake

Cool Smoke Luke
And it had to be him? They couldn't have picked someone else after hearing this guy's story?

of coarse it didn't need to be him..he was chosen randomly..he didn't provide enough evidence that they shouldn't consider him a valid choice..obviously.
But digging and saying NO pick someone else I'm to important wasn't a good enough reason....obviously.
 
welcome to reality where he could have gotten up and said ok I guess im delayed.
that was the choice..walk out or be carried out..its still a choice.
Yes surely the only option the airline had was to have the man assaulted considering the whole situation was their fault in the first place.
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
of coarse it didn't need to be him..he was chosen randomly..he didn't provide enough evidence that they shouldn't consider him a valid choice..obviously.
But digging and saying NO pick someone else I'm to important wasn't a good enough reason....obviously.

And their only choice as a result was to assault the man. Makes total sense.

The other people that chose to leave peacefully didn't have places they needed to be?

We don't know what this guy's patients are like. For all we know it was some life-and-death surgery shit. Either way, I'd put that above some guy with an HR meeting in the morning for sure.
 

Aselith

Member
Airlines need to get a booking system like Mondo has for their limited edition art prints.

They never end up selling 255 prints on a 250 edition size.

These companies are so desperate to squeeze out every single penny they have no qualms about screwing over someone.

I don't think you thought this through real well. If Mondo were to sell 250 prints and people cancelled so that they only sold 240, they could just sell the rest of the prints since they are a physical object and not time limited. Not to mention they don't allow cancellations. https://mondotees.com/collections/posters/products/inside-out-anger-poster.
All sales are final.

Now imagine if Mondo sold 250 prints that could only be picked up at 10:55am on Saturday January 25th and if you didn't they would burn any unsold posters so Mondo eats that cost. One option would be for Mondo to not allow changes or cancellations (which they already do) which is what the airline COULD do so that they still get paid when you don't show.

However, United allows changes to flight plans so if you were to not show and they also don't get the full ticket price AND they didn't overbook then they would be left holding the bag for most of the cost of that seat.

Overbooking allows them to be a little more flexible. Mondo just won't refund you from what it says on their site. In that sense, Mondo is really scummy since they could just sell the extra product without any issues.
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
we all have lives and appointments, if it wasn't life threatening he could have appointments rescheduled..shit happens..

And if it was? If it was this guy just got punched in the face and kick off his plane.

There's a world of difference between a doctor seeing a patient in a hospital and your HR meeting.
 

JJH

Member
A doctor getting violently removed from a plane you say.

1JtVVvM.jpg
 

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
It doesn't change the end result naturally but people should understand that when they say I'm never flying United that any airline would do this to them if they were the unlucky person.

Where are these other videos of people being dragged off of planes on other airlines?
 

Calamari41

41 > 38
we all have lives and appointments, if it wasn't life threatening he could have appointments rescheduled..shit happens..

Why do the customers have to "reschedule" everything in their lives because of a mistake United made, rather than United having to "reschedule" some employee shifts or, god forbid, throw their employees on a bus?
 

Forearms

Member
we all have lives and appointments, if it wasn't life threatening he could have appointments rescheduled..shit happens..

"Shit" generally isn't because you were forced to leave a flight due to the lack of foresight by the airline you booked your travel with.
 

MultiCore

Member
There's no way the passenger could have believed he was doing the appropriate thing.

United owns the planes, they can fly them around empty if they want. He has no right to be there if they tell him to get off.

He thought he wanted to fight, and lost. He's not a victim.
 

Hylian7

Member
It doesn't change the end result naturally but people should understand that when they say I'm never flying United that any airline would do this to them if they were the unlucky person.

Any airline would violently drag someone off a plane and bash their face on a seat?

Even if they did do a shitty practice like removing someone in this manner, I don't think every airline would do that shit.
 
we all have lives and appointments, if it wasn't life threatening he could have appointments rescheduled..shit happens..

Can the same not be said for the United employee? I'd argue the appointments a doctor has are much more important than whatever was so important for the United employee.

Blows my mind people want to step up to bat for corporations over fucking doctors.
 

Big Blue

Member
The airline should have offered more money. If they want to roll the dice and overbook, then they should be prepared to lose out sometimes.
 
Where are these other videos of people being dragged off of planes on other airlines?

Any airline would violently drag someone off a plane and bash their face on a seat?

Even if they did do a shitty practice like removing someone in this manner, I don't think every airline would do that shit.

It wasn't the airline that roughed him up it was the local law enforcement. So different airline same airport you'd probably get the same result based on the people working security.
 
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