Hasphat'sAnts
Member
How did they end up picking this guy out of hundreds of customers?
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United Airlines violently drags a doctor off a plane so employee could take his seat
- Thread starter Korey
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Give me 10 grand and a free hotel and I'm gone
ClosingADoor
Member
This did not happen. The crew members were in standby and needed to get to another airport because they needed to crew a flight there. They didn't go on holidays.
KarneeKarnay
Member
Not advocating for United (Scumbags), but if I was the guy in charge of the situation, I would have spoken to the Doctor, heard he had patients and picked another number at random.
Still might not have avoided the situation, but it would certainly have been less of a cluster fuck.
Still might not have avoided the situation, but it would certainly have been less of a cluster fuck.
The thought process was I live in a free country and they are not going to beat and drag me off an airplane to make way for someone else like this is some shithole of a country.
He miscalculated on that one. This is America. Dignity can go fuck itself.
With the way America is going I am not surprised at all that people l, even here, are going to find fault with the victim. That's how we do in the US of A in 2017.
These posts are weird because you call for him to fight for his rights and then call for meek acceptance of what is being down to him.
You want him to be a sheep or a lion?
Chairmanchuck
Member
You need to open a lawsuit of course.
Skellig Gra
Member
That's how you start riots. Saying some people are more important than others. Then everyone will just say they are a doctor cause they don't want to get off the plane. People turned down $800 already, they obviously really want to get where they are going.
Crazymoogle
Member
Sure, from a load balancing perspective. But there is nothing in the law that prevents United from making bigger offers to customers to opt out of the flight. At some point somebody is going to take the deal.
(They won't because they feel it's a slippery slope that will hurt all of their future income, but still...Now instead of losing say, another $1000 to boot a passenger they get tons of bad press and possibly a lawsuit)
AlexFlame116
Member
Oh dang. I'm gonna read this again then.
peteykirch
Member
So the only thing I could think of, due to the proximity of the cities.
I take it there was no flight from Chicago to Cincinnati? If there was, and there were open seats they could've made the employees who needed to get to Louisville on that plane, and have a rental car waiting and then 90 minutes later they would be in Louisville.
I take it there was no flight from Chicago to Cincinnati? If there was, and there were open seats they could've made the employees who needed to get to Louisville on that plane, and have a rental car waiting and then 90 minutes later they would be in Louisville.
The fuck am i reading?
Not even accounting for the over aggressive use of force, none of these passengers could be wrong for denying getting off given that UA shot themselves in the foot from the jump by trying to incentivize voluntary behavior. Without even saying as much, by asking for "volunteers" they've basically nullified the importance of their situation so they can't be mad when people don't decide to comply
They would have been much better off if they just picked 4 people and then explained the situation to them and tell them they'll be compensated accordingly.
Don't give people the allusion of choice and then get mad when they don't adhere to the choice you want made.
The problem he faces with any potential civil litigation is that the Contract of Carriage he agreed to when purchasing the ticket allows for the airline to remove anyone from the flight for pretty much any reason, and has defined compensation scales.
I was just reading it, and boy is it a fucking nightmare for consumers. That said, I did learn that I could bring mini bottles of liquor in my carry-on.
Also, I think you can ask for a check instead of a voucher as compensation with United.
That's a pretty brutal TOS, but I'm sure that lawyers will find ways to dance around that.
That seems to just be the same thing I said, you have guaranteed compensation in the event of overbooking (which is the same as it is in the US). It doesn't seem to say anything about a right to additional damages.
Skellig Gra
Member
Right, obviously their corporate geniuses decided that $800 was the profitability cut off for flight vouchers.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
edit:damn that TOS^
what POS, can he do something about it? i hope they get fucked out of millions of dollars.
what POS, can he do something about it? i hope they get fucked out of millions of dollars.
Yes, one is a verb and another is a adjective.
Skellig Gra
Member
Not likely at all. Asking him to leave the plane was well within their legal rights. When he refused they called security (not United affiliated) and as I understand it were actual police officers. He fought with them and got fucked up. So he has no legal ground against United and he fought with police officers. Where is the money coming from?
Hoho for breakfast
Member
This is crazy. If this is the whole story then I hope he sues for millions and gets it. What a bunch of idiots.
And then United apologizes for the overbook situation? That's what they apologize for?! I'd take that as a middle finger if I were that doctor.
And then United apologizes for the overbook situation? That's what they apologize for?! I'd take that as a middle finger if I were that doctor.
Paltheos
Member
It's a tough situation. I want to believe that for a big company like this, they collect metadata on how much they can overbook particular flights at particular times to safely avoid this situation because needing to transport staff is probably a regular issue they have to deal with. Even in that situation though, there's not much they can do, other than maybe have the employees stand? But where? Needing 4 seats sounds like... a particularly bad disaster. I kinda feel for them, but forcibly ejecting a passenger from the plane? How did they arrive on that as a necessary, next step? I'm guessing they couldn't get anyone else to cover a shift at the destination? Or maybe they have contractual obligations to fill for the staff? Something this extreme... they must have known there'd be blowback for this.
newtypepilot
Member
XD the defense force is completely delusional. I'm sure they will act all noble and gracious if they were in that guy's shoes.
B
bomb
Unconfirmed Member
what if we all paid a $10 cover to enter a club. The club realizes it was over capacity and randomly choses a person to leave. The randomly chosen person gets at least their money back. After asking this person multiple times to leave, is it not their right to remove them by force?
Is it a shitty situation? Sure. Life is shitty sometimes.
Is it a shitty situation? Sure. Life is shitty sometimes.
MikeHattsu
Member
Nah, it's not just in the US. Most airlines overbook flights, even JAL and ANA that was mentioned earlier:
https://www.ar.jal.com/arl/region/en/other/csplan.html
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/ANA+to+pay+cash+to+compensate+for+overbooking.-a074493572
Of course, how they handle it is usually better...
Well you see as owner of the plane they have the legal authority to make a customer eat an armrest at any time
The reason they didn't go above $800 is that's the federally mandated compensation for removing an overbooked passenger without their permission*. Now while you'd think it's common sense to try sweetening the pot to avoid the brouhaha, I imagine most airlines think once you're at the $800 you may as well just 'randomly' select.
*yes anything under that is just them trying it on basically.
Edit: actually I think the maximum has went up to about $1350 (or 4 times the ticket price which ever is lower)
*yes anything under that is just them trying it on basically.
Edit: actually I think the maximum has went up to about $1350 (or 4 times the ticket price which ever is lower)
SuperBanana
Banned
The people defending this sort of action is why customer service is and always will be completely trash in America. Someone will excuse any kind of awful behavior.
bloodydrake
Cool Smoke Luke
they were needed to man another flight.
their attendance on that flight was a requirement not an option
try again
Skellig Gra
Member
If they forced him to stay overnight he'd get a hotel plus meals in addition to the $800 and the seat on the new flight.
ghostwritingduck
Member
It just doesn't make any sense that they let people board without sorting it out.
Of course! That's just good customer service.
You'd think they could try to offer the deal to someone else once he had identified himself as a doctor that needed to be in his clinic the next day...
They shouldn't stop raising the offer. It's their own fuck up. If their cross/benefit analysis includes for the fact that sometimes they need to 'pay off' people on over booked flights, then it shouldn't be capped at $800. One of the variables shouldn't be 'Well we can just knock them out and drag them forcibly off the plane'.
The benefit of overbooking is that flights are always packed full, but it has to come with a disadvantage to the airline too. They should have a better answer for 'Well, what if they don't accept $800'.
Macho Madness
Member
Do your research before you post this nonsense.
This isn't a US thing. I'm in Canada and fly almost every day. Overbooking is a regular practice here as well. Same scenario, they page prior to boarding and ask for volunteers. Starts at 200 credit, goes to 400 if no one speaks up and goes to 800 after that. I've never seen it go higher. Have also seen free overnight accommodations though.
I've also never seen someone be removed from the flight. What should have happened is the last person to check in is told they no longer have a seat available and they never get on the flight in the first place.
What happens in this video is deplorable and inexcusable.
Calamari41
41 > 38
They view their customers as no more than cattle, that's how they arrived at that step.
Sounds like United's problem. Maybe they should hire people who are better at these kinds of logistical problems?
Plus, my post was in direct response to a ski lift analogy. Nice try, though.
This is a shitty analogy
Macho Madness
Member
Actually it was
Skellig Gra
Member
Yes, care to point out what part I said was inaccurate?
BronsonLee
Member
Jesus Christ I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read this
Also, guys, their policies/contract of carriage/etc mean jack diddly in the court of public opinion, where it looks like they bounced a dude's head off an armrest because they fucked up so take your Lawful Neutral shit and put it in the bin
Being removed from a flight for not doing anything is always going to get some blowback
This lady got 11k for her family: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurab...-to-fly-to-florida-this-weekend/#63e0ed7c4de1
Which is a slippery slope, because once you start trying to negotiate with gate agents to voluntarily leave, if no one else bites, they can just make you get off anyway for the $800.
Macho Madness
Member
The part where you suck corporate taint on a website like the bag of shit you are
How else would they know they were actually overbooked without actually having someone in every seat?
RPGCrazied
Member
Trump's police? The man bought his ticket. Nobody has to go anywhere. Its nobody's fault that you overbooked but the airlines, maybe get some of the stewards off.
Not sure you understand how the legal system works. It's very, very, very likely that this guy is going to get money out of this.
You think airlines don't know it's overbooked until they actually get bodies in the seat? Does no one check in? If you have 50 seats, and 52 people check-in the day of for the flight, you're pretty much going to be overbooked.
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