Arrogant and Outrageous act by UAL!

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I do not know how many of you heard about this Arrogant and Outrageous act by UAL.

Arrogant and Outrageous act by UAL, Why UAL Overbooked?

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I am actually shocked that lame CEO actually thought his initial response (oh, that the passenger was being belligerent and disruptive) was the way to go. Someone of his ranking should have known the PR nightmare this would cause. The fact that he is even still working for UAL is amazing…

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As of today morning NPR news, the Doctor is suing UAL.

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The title of article is inconsistent with the nature of the case, so didn’t bother to click on it. The case has nothing to do with overbooking.

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It’s not just UAL. Come on folks. Let’s try to be sensible and not be like every person on the internet.

If the person was not bloodied and dragged out, would this be trending worldwide? If he was just escorted out (unhappily) by the police, would we care? It would just be another case of bad customer service. United has bad service for decades.

Yes United should’ve and could’ve handle the situation better initially but once the police came, they made it a millions times worse…

Shouldn’t the bigger issue be what is up with law enforcement these days? Do they not teach de-escalation techniques anymore? Why are there so many videos and (probably many not captured) incidents of excessive force?

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Three Aviation Department police officers got on the plane. Two officers tried to reason with the man before a third came aboard and pointed at the man “basically saying, ‘Sir, you have to get off the plane,’” said Tyler Bridges, a passenger whose wife, Audra D. Bridges, posted a video on Facebook.

One of the officers could be seen grabbing the screaming man from his window seat, across the armrest and dragging him down the aisle by his arms.

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  1. Every airline is different. UAL has a history of horrible PR responses to complaints. Some airlines just keep raising the amount they’ll pay for passengers to get off until someone gives up their seat. UAL didn’t do that. United deserves to go under. I stopped flying them 10 years ago in response to the letter I got from customer service regarding my own complaint. I made the same complaint (please don’t show visually PG -13 movies on the general cabin TVs with kids present), to American and the letters I got back from United and American were night and day. Even if neither of the airlines intended to change anything, AA at least made it sound like they cared (and actually later, I think they did clean up the stuff they were showing.) I’ve also have fantastic luck being bumped with American (though a while ago–back in my college days). I remember they needed something like 6 people to volunteer to get off. They started offering vouchers at $250, and I got off at $500. Last person got off at $700, and they gave all of us that higher amount. That’s customer service for you.

  2. Excellent question. And the younger generations nowadays also have issues–hard to have a debate on a college campus where there’s a polite back and forth of controversial ideas without students protesting and rioting. This does not bode well for our nation.

I gotta be honest. After seeing someone removed like that, I’d have gotten up and left. Who wants to be on an airplane where the airline pulls crap like that especially if you could drive?

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Also, FYI, apparently you can ask for cash instead of a voucher. Who knew???

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another example of UA’s customer service.

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Maybe if United falls, Delta and American can have a duopoly.

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I had an experience with United at Chicago airport, where the flight was delayed for some reason & when I boarded I found myself and another gentleman had the same seat number, which was a window seat. When I pointed that mistake out, I was given a middle seat for the 4.5 hour flight while the other gentleman got the window seat.

I grumbled @the middle seat to the Steward and he basically said with a raised eyebrow - “Be thankful you have a seat & we are doing a great favor to you”, no sorry nothing. I had to ignore that language & attributed it to an issue with that particular employee, but maybe on hindsight it is a United thing.

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Boycotting United does not necessarily lead them to shutting their company & might allow them to have trainings to improve their customer service.

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Dr David Dao, please give UAL a really bad Yelp review…:slight_smile:

(Come on, he is going to get a nice FAT check, even after his lawyer takes his cut, for showing the world his belly button)

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Whatever I infer, Overbooking made this issue. UAL (and other such as DAL) overbook to maximize returns.

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Core issue is not on Training, but management directive to book over the limit. Boycott costs the airlines. If management attitude is not changed, Many top heads will roll before the company goes negative trend.

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That happens with all airlines more or less, not specific to United. They do it because it’s allowed by law. Southwest has a much better rating on Yelp than all the other big ones(Delta,United,American airlines) although they overbook almost as much or more in some cases.

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My understanding is that overbooking is necessary to make a profit. You don’t want to fly with empty seats. But HOW you handle the overbooking is what’s at issue here. Do you make someone super happy for their inconvenience or give someone the boot–or handcuffs–or call the police–and piss them off?

I’ve always been happy to be offered money for my seats. It was so nice when I was a college student that I’d inquire before boarding whether they were looking for people to be bumped and when the next flight is. Now I pack a days set of clothing in case we’re bumped (lesson learned–I want a change of underwear and they won’t take your luggage off of the plane, and hey, with kids, it’s a good idea anyways to have a change of clothing.)

The only time i was bumped against my wishes was I think with Delta many many years ago–I was at the end of the boarding line, and that was how they did it. it was a lesson learned that everyone does things differently. AA and Southwest have always asked for volunteers and sweetened the pot to get them. Sometimes I’m bummed when they say they might need the seats and then it turns out we get to go anyways (that’s $1000 I didn’t get for staying an extra couple of hours in the airport. DARN!)

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There is no overbooking.
Everybody were boarded and seated.
So the “denial of boarding” rule doesn’t apply.
However, Airlines can bump anyone involuntarily for unfit behavior that would endanger others using the “refusal to transport” rule. From the videos, there are no such behavior before the dragging incident.
The only way for United to free four seats is to offer sweeteners like what AA and SouthWest did till enough passengers voluntarily leave, ref: Terri’s account.
Since the four passengers are told to leave involuntarily, they can sue United. Of course, the one who got injured can claim more damages.

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http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/4-statements-by-United-on-passenger-s-removed-11071650.php

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I wish landlords could use the same overbooking strategy to reduce the vacancy./sarcasm

For the airlines, in the event of overbooking, it is more reasonable to use financial incentive to encourage passengers to take a later flight. However, to force it with violence, it sounds so wrong.

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