A decade ago, nine airlines competed fiercely to win traveler loyalty. Today, following a wave of mergers and consolidations, only four airlines control almost 80 percent of all available domestic capacity in the U.S.
The merged powerhouse airlines have carved out hubs in major cities, building veritable fortresses where the “Big Three” carriers (American, Delta and United) dominate access to gates and seats. At 16 large hubs, a single carrier controls at least 50 percent of domestic seats.
At United’s hubs at Washington Dulles and Houston, the carrier controls between 74 and 77 percent of domestic seats. Delta dominates Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta with 78 percent of domestic seats, compared to just 12 percent for the second largest carrier. And in Charlotte, 91 percent of seats are owned by American Airlines.
I do not think his professional misconduct would affect his case against UAL. He was not prescribing medicine when he was dragged out of the plane. He also was not having sex with anyone on the plane. UAL maybe able to use media to attack the victim, but it would not change the fact on the plane.
The victim was not violent and was not a danger to anyone. Violence was committed by police on behalf of UAL on UAL property by UAL’s request. Aviation police department and UAL will have to pay a large sum to the victim as civil settlement.
Will the aviation police face criminal charges?
This article seems an effort to lessen UAL’s PR damage.
And I agree with the general comments that long term United should come out of this fine. Unfortunately, the airlines got us by the you know what and they know it.
So watching the discussion between the police and Dr. Dao:
I’m actually less sympathetic to Dr. Dao. The officer was clear that he was going to remove him. Dao made comments like “I’d rather go to jail than get off this plane.” He pretty much invited/baited the officers to go ahead and drag him out of the seat rather than trying to argue that he belonged there and that them removing him was wrong/illegal. As much as I find the scene upsetting, I have to wonder how I’d feel if I asked a dinner guest to leave, and they refused, and I had to ask police to come in and remove someone from my house. How would you guys feel if you evicted someone and the police had to come and remove them? It’d be unfortunate if blood were lost, but it’s your house.
I do think though that United should have done things differently. But one question is this: It’s United’s plane. Does anyone have the right to stay on that plane, even if they paid, when asked to leave? Obviously, they deserve a refund and an apology. Obviously they have the right to a smear campaign and a boycott, but when asked to leave and the police called, is there a reason to believe that they have a legal right to stay and not be dragged off the plane?
I get ALL that you spelled out and I get the legal mumbo jumbo about what is in the contract or ticket fine-print, BUT what about the simple basic notion that Dr. Dao’s payment for his seat on the plane was accepted and in one sense that contract is binding (as long as the plane was capable and going which it was). Isn’t the airline supposed to fulfill its duty to Dr Dao under all reasonable circumstances?
(I know, I am on thin ice on this one but it is Friday after all…)
Indeed that is the question here. But if the answer is yes, should the police be liable at all if it was United’s fault for asking them to remove the passenger? The police aren’t lawyers. Either they have a reasonable belief that when asked, they should remove a passenger from United’s property, or they shouldn’t remove passengers at all unless they can verify that the passenger is posing a danger to other passengers or the flight.
I suppose one stance is that the police should not be involved in matters that are somewhat more of a contractual nature as opposed to a criminal or safety to citizens nature. Dr. Dao was not a threat to anyone and had a right to be in his window seat. All he wanted was for United to fulfill its duty, which was to transport him to his destination.
I read the argument that the inside of such a commercial plane is heavily regulated more like a public space (even though the plane is owned by a private company). The analogy with your private home or a privately owned rental would not be appropriate.
Yeah. Essentially the Chicago police are taking the hit for being asked to break a contract. That shouldn’t have happened until after a judge/lawyer were involved.
Is this verified fact?
I heard that those past charges against him that had been circulating through media/internet were about other Dr.Dao with different middle name.
Regardless, I am not sure why victim’s past matters in this horrible incidence.
Like others on this thread i am locked into united (too many miles and frequent flier status on united) so i figured it will blow over in a month once everyone has forgotten. Now i am not so sure. My wife who usually doesn’t pay attention to this kind of stuff has been on the warpath all week (to the point of purging all her united miles). She’s now working on me to purge them as well. so on a sample size of one, i think this is going to hurt united…
Now, what does purging miles actually mean? Using them or trading them for others? Unfortunately like Comcast, United doesn’t really care… You mean to tell me, say in a couple of months, CEO Munoz goes on the boob tube during the Warriors’ playoff games live and says, “United is really sorry. Fares will be 50% off…” people are going to hold to their convictions and say “No, I am not going to fly United even if I save 50%…”???
Yes, I hear you. I haven’t flown much in recent years. Previously (10 years ago), 100k miles flown in calendar year is required to reach 1K (United) or Platinum (other airlines) status. With 1K status, I can get 6-8 free upgrade coupons (depends on airline), more bonus miles, etc. 100k miles is basically 10 trips to Asia and possibly 11 trips to Europe. So in order to use the upgrade coupons and to gain 1K/Platinum for following year, most frequently fliers have to stay within single company.
Some airlines at certain times will do matching. So if they match, then can switch airlines and still maintain the elite status. But not all airlines do matching all the time, not sure why. I did do this couple years, where I hit 1K on UA around September; and already used my upgrade coupons. Then I got matching on AA and flew AA for the rest of the year.
That is why even though I didn’t like UA, I put up with UA to collect the frequent flier benefits. I’m sure that is same with others.
It’s not unusual for people to be bumped after they have planed; it happened to me once when a bunch of flight cancellations created havoc. It is your responsibility to comply with requests, no matter how inconvenient or stressful. That’s part of air travel. If you don’t than the airline and law enforcement have every right to use force to remove you. I have no sympathy for that doctor - none. He not only created a needless incident, he delayed everyone else on the plane from reaching their destination (and they should have the right to sue him for doing so).
United MAY have loused up but even that isn’t clear. If they had to get workers to another assignment quickly the alternative might have been to delay hundreds rather than inconvenience four. Even if it was incompetence lots of situations are created by incompetence. That doesn’t give anyone the right to put themselves above the law. And the law isn’t the only issue here; the issue is behaving like an adult when you don’t get your way - which this doctor failed to do. Not surprising that it has now come out that he has a criminal record and anger management issues. I hope he goes up on criminal charges. If not than every jerk who thinks he is above the law will delay a flight and the whole flying experience will get even worse than it is already.
It is clear from your comments that you’ve decided to side with United and not the man e.g. you say United MAY have loused up and even that isn’t clear… we’re not there and yet you made that stand. And the fact that you’ve cited the man’s past means your judgement of the incident is influenced by his past… IMHO, his past is irrelevant to this incident.
As I said immediately after Jil open the thread that there is no overbooking… since then many bloggers quote a law professor and a bloomberg’s article echoing the law professor’s opinion. So United can only remove a passenger for the following situation:
a. Unruly behavior that endanger others + medical emergency. This is in accordance with terms of the contract; or
b. Announce that they are breaching the contract, and henceforth the passengers have to leave since they would be trespassing private property upon the announcement.
From the video and comment by an on-plane passenger, Dr Dao didn’t behave unruly before (deleted: the security officer yanked him out of his seat) he was selected for removal. So can’t apply option a. United can only use option b. to remove that passenger, yet to date, the statements by CEO seems to indicate that he thinks United is not breaching contract.
Having said above, I agree with you that Dr Dao should obey the law enforcement agency (did some web search to verify that the department of aviation security is a bona fide law enforcement agency) to leave. He and the other three passengers can then sue United for breach of contract.
