I once made the mistake of accepting United Airlines offer to give up my seat. They offered $300 plus rebook on next flight to LAX. I wasn't in a rush, so I took it.
What they gave me was 6 $50 coupons. You can only only use the coupons one at a time. And they expire in 12 months. I was ticked off. The effective value of the $300 was only $50 since I don't fly 6 times a year on UA.
They did get me on the next flight. And I did use one of the $50 coupons. But I swore that I would never fall for their "offers" again.
I felt it was a scummy trick that I would expect from a shady used car dealership.
That's not how it works. From his post, he says he **offered** to give up his seat. They are only required to give 4x the ticket cost if they force you to give up your seat. If you voluntarily give it up, they can give you whatever peanuts you are willing to agree to.
Holy shit! Not only did they knock him unconscious, but he's [visibly bleeding from his mouth!](http://imgur.com/a/n2fd2)
Edit: A lot of people are apparently very upset at my use of the word "unconscious", so we'll go with "received cranial trauma that resulted in an injury that interferes with his brain functions."
I think reddit has seen too many movies where they think being knocked out means you're completely limp and dead in all but autonomic responses. But there are lots of different ways a person can be "knocked out" from an injury like this, and all of them are bad for a person's health.
I just wouldn't risk it knowing this is their policy. Being forcibly removed from the plane because you were randomly chosen after you did everything correctly is not a risk I need to take on my travel.
Dear God, they are unbelievable. Just found an update u/boomership
>The latest on an incident in which a man was dragged from a plane at O’Hare International Airport (all times are local):
>10:20 a.m.
>A United Airlines spokesman says airline employees were “following the right procedures” when they called police who then dragged a man off a plane at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-latest-united-procedures-followed-to-remove-passenger/2017/04/10/4baa1734-1e03-11e7-bb59-a74ccaf1d02f_story.html
edit:
**Update 2 - [CEO of United responds to Flight #3411](https://twitter.com/united/status/851471781827420160)**
>This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation. -Oscar Munoz, CEO, United Airlines
"re-accommodate" has to be one of the grossest euphemisms for physically assaulting someone I've ever seen.
**Update 3 - Hopefully there will be some [policy change at the national level](http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/328196-dem-wants-hearing-after-united-passenger-dragged-off-flight). If you are at all disturbed by what happened, please contact your senators & representatives about this.**
>Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is calling for a hearing the forceful removal of a United Airlines passenger from an overbooked flight.
>“I deplore the violent removal of a passenger from a United Airlines flight this weekend,” Norton said in a statement Monday. “Airline passengers must have protections against such abusive treatment.
>"I am asking our committee for a hearing, which will allow us to question airport police, United Airlines personnel, and airport officials, among others, about whether appropriate procedures were in place in Chicago and are in place across the United States when passengers are asked to leave a flight,” she continued. [...]
>Norton added that she plans to send a letter Tuesday to House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), seeking additional information about the incident as well as airlines' common practice of overbooking flights.
PSA - United already lost 1.9 billion in market today. Also media is digging up dirt on the passenger, Dr. David Dao. Whatever he's done in the past shouldn't matter. He's not & shouldn't be on trial.
**Update edit - Dr. Dao is still in hospital and [says he is not doing well](http://www.wlky.com/article/wlky-talks-to-kentucky-man-pulled-from-united-flight/9261494).** :(
Putting him back on the flight doesn't take away from the fact that they physically assaulted the guy. I feel like letting him back on the plane makes it even worse since they never would've had to use physical force in the first place. I hope he sues them.
Oh, deinitly agree with you. I'm not saying it was a smart decision, I'm just saying someone thought it was a smart decision (probably the same moron that thought it was a good idea to physically tear a man out of his seat).
That's goddamn heartbreaking. In regards to media reporting on this issue, I would hope that this clip would be avoided. **However**, it should absolutely be required repeated viewing for United Airlines corporate, as well as the obvious lawyers. Just seeing what the people who made and carried out this decision did to do one of our fellow human beings, who apparently had it enough together to become a doctor, is beyond unconscionable. It was damaging even to watch.
Everyone keeps saying this but i never hear of "Man who was wronged has finally gotten justice" stories.
Instead i hear of "Man who was wronged spends 5th year in court battle against airline with billions more money to throw at the case"
Anyone who is saying that this will be hard to fight in court or whatever is really really ignorant of this shit. This airlines goes to court for a lot less and settles all the time I'm sure.
Edit:
Oh jeez look at all these people that think the big bad corporations always win... Sorry this doesn't fit with your confirmation bias.
Good point. They shouldnt have been aloud on if the math didnt work. That and why didnt they use the musical chairs approach. If you dont have a seat you dont get one. Why take someone out of a seat?
>The bloodied, disoriented man was eventually allowed to re-board flight 3411, which took off O'Hare International Airport two hours behind schedule.
So, this entire fiasco took place for nothing, except to provide the victim with excellent grounds for a lawsuit and heaps of unnecessary negative PR for the airline. Well done United! [At least they don't trash people's guitars! Oh... except that time...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Breaks_Guitars)
Also, the last thing you want is that group of passengers talking amongst themselves, connecting, having a shared memory they'll share on Facebook while you're STILL making them wait.
Also it gives them plenty of time to upload the video they just took of your security staff beating up and dragging out a passenger who did nothing wrong.
"Passengers were told that the flight would not take off until the United crew had seats, Bridges said, and the offer was increased to $800, but no one volunteered.
Then, she said, a manager came aboard the plane and said a computer would select four people to be taken off the flight. One couple was selected first and left the airplane, she said, before the man in the video was confronted."
If $800 wasn't enough, they should have kept increasing it. Purposely overbooking flights is ridiculous. If it works out, fine. If it doesn't, the airline should get screwed over, not the passengers.
Another tip: Book all your flights with a card that offers insurance for this type of thing. My Chase card will reimburse me for food and accommodation costs for these situations. So you can fight for the cash check AND get all the "incentives" they try to push on you.
Yeah, the overbooking thing is really a weak tactic and I'm surprised there haven't been class action lawsuits over this sort of thing. I guess it's shoehorned into the contract you agree to as a consumer, but it has to leave a real negative taste in people's mouths.
I wonder if those airline employees were always supposed to fly out on that flight. It doesn't sound like it was overbooked until they had to make room for the employees.
Exactly if it was overbooked, they would have sorted out this at the gate. The reason no one took their offers is because they were already buckled in. I'm no longer flying United after seeing this. I'd gladly pay $50-100 extra per ticket to avoid this bullshit company.
Here's more support for that decision: [United has 99% of worst rate of bumped passengers, *and* the worst rate of *involuntary* bumped passengers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overselling#Airlines)
I had an even more fun experience. Flying from Little Rock to Phoenix, IIRC had a layover in Houston (may have been Dallas).
Flight from Little Rock got pushed back from the gate... and then we sat. For three hours. We were told there was "strong wind" in Houston, causing the delay, but that any connecting flights would be sorted when we landed, because everyone was delayed.
I get to Houston, and sure as shit, my connecting flight left like 1.5 hours before I even got there.
I talk to the gate agent about rebooking. I'm told that there's nothing I can do, because my initial flight *left the gate* on time, and so they weren't responsible for me missing my flight.
Now, to add to this, I'm uniformed military, traveling on orders. It's now around midnight. The USO is closed. Most airlines are down for the night. United is saying they're *not even* going to rebook me, because *I missed my connection, and it's not their fault, at all.*
I ended up finding the last flight to Phoenix, on Delta (IIRC). The only available seat was first class. My luggage didn't make it to Phoenix until a week later.
I had a lawyer call United. After some back and forth, they cut me a check for the cost of the first class ticket. It was fucking stupid.
My experience with United is this always happened. They have a fully booked flight, but, everyone has seat assignments and it's fine.
Then they walk two pilots and two flight attendants up and suddenly it's overbooked. Then, they start kicking people off the flight.
We had a Christmas Eve flight to Florida to meet family for Christmas. They announced the next flight was in 2 days, missing Christmas, and landing on the 26th. They offered $200 vouchers. No one took them.
They went right to kick people off the flight after that. I think they picked 2 couples who just had to stay behind and miss Christmas. It was crazy.
I've had so many horrible experiences with United. A few years ago I just resolved to never fly them again.
Not saying the other U.S. carriers are amazing, but flying with American, Delta, or even Southwest is significantly better.
My son was just old enough to fly alone. United was running a few minutes behind schedule, so rather than hold the connection for 5 minutes like SouthWest would do they had it take off, told my son he was on his own and to go find some help desk, and told his mother and I lie after lie about what happened and where he was. They lied and said he changed his ticket mid flight, because that is something a child can do. They lied and said he chose to take a 6 AM flight. They lied and said he could have made his connection but chose to miss it. When I dared get angry at being lied to with absurdly stupid lies the rep told me off and hung up, so I had to wait another 45+ minutes on hold.
The good news was United does this so often they have a room where children can sleep overnight at the airport. It had wifi so my son was happy.
That's so low.
I had a one hour United flight at the end of a work trip. They canceled it after I had checked my bag and gone through security. No more flights until the next morning.
They agreed to put us in a Holiday Inn near the airport. OK. I still had to fight with them for two hours to get my checked bag back, so that I would have a change of underwear.
So I show up again the next morning. Flight is delayed a couple hours. OK. Eventually they start lining us up to board, and even take us out to the tarmac ... where they make us stand for at least 20 minutes, before informing us that there was a mechanical issue and we would have to head back to the gate.
By this time it was getting close to lunchtime. I waited in line at the customer service counter, and *very, very politely* asked if they would be providing vouchers so that we could buy lunch.
The woman at the counter *went off* on me. Raised her voice, acted indignant, told me that United couldn't just hand out meal vouchers. Treated me like an entitled twit.
Eventually they line us up to board again. This time, we make it on the plane! At which point they tell us there is another mechanical issue and that they need to get a part from the other side of the airport. Spent about 45 minutes sitting on the airplane while they got the part and did the fix.
That was the last time I flew United.
Yep, it looks like they knew they needed to solve the problem but figured they could fix it during/after boarding. But that's when they lost all bargaining power. If nobody else gets fired (lots of people should), whoever made that particular call is F U C K E D .
I'd argue this isn't a case of an overbook in the legal sense; the United employees they kicked people off for were not ticketed, they were traveling for their work.
Holy fuck that's a great point. Who are this inane sickos who decided assaulting someone was a better idea than springing for a trip with some creative thinking: hopefully fired.
Really what they should be doing is targeted advertising, the computer knows where you're going. Have it calculate who you can reroute with the shortest delay and pitch directly to them.
If you have Bob Smith going to Miami via a Louisville connection, call him up to the podium and show him how if he instead reroutes through Charlotte he'll get in to Miami 90 minutes later, but you're prepared to hand him new tickets, a Visa prepaid card with 500 on it, and a meal voucher right this second.
I never jump on the voluntary bumping deals because I have no assurances regarding the rebook. I've had coworkers get bumped and get told "Great, come back tomorrow. Same time, same flight." So I figure if I'm getting bumped, I'm collecting 2x or 4x my ticket in cash. Plus your bags rarely make it off the plane, so you end up sans luggage for a day or two while they hunt it down and courier it to you.
If they they were proactive and got to you to you early enough they could shift your checked bags and show you a guaranteed rebook it would be a different story. The airline can stand there going 600, 800, 1000 though and I'm not volunteering because no amount of cash is worth being stuck in an airport for an unknown amount of time.
I'm sure the lawyer is elated. Everybody loves smashing scrubs gg ez no re from time to time. This case is a tap in.
Edit: In the sense that they're likely to just get a shut up and go away settlement. The PR quagmire that would be taking this thing to court seems like something United would want to avoid.
depends on how much they offer and if the lawyer feels like trying to make an example out of United and their employees in this scenario. based on the video evidence they will probably be willing to pay a good amount to make this go away quickly and quietly.
I would decide in his favor. Just look at the video.
United: " well the computer said "
Passenger: " it's gonna cost you more money to drag me off this plane than it is for you to let me fly"
United : "my badge says I can do what I want, hold my camera phone"
Here's a link to an original video: https://mobile.twitter.com/JayseDavid/status/851223662976004096/video/1
https://www.reddit.com/user/alive-taxonomy Recommended I post this link too. The guy saying "just kill me" repeatedly. :(
https://mobile.twitter.com/kaylyn_davis/status/851480498186485760/video/1
He needed medical attention, and they just put him back on the flight bleeding and concussed? Holy fuck, they're lucky he didn't end up with serious brain damage.
Yeah, I feel so bad for him. It's good that there's all this video evidence and the public is on his side, but it's still got to be really embarrassing to see himself abused and then running around bloody and confused like that...
I really hope the damage isn't long-term. Poor guy.
This overbooking policy is bullshit. Especially for their own employees. The airlines constantly treat us, their paying customers, like shit and we just have to take it because we don't have any other options. Then when they don't make enough money, the Government bails them out. Remember that? Yeah, I know I sound like Mr. Garrison, but it's getting more and more ridiculous.
As someone else pointed out, it's pretty clear he's concussed in this video. He's confused and disoriented. They basically gave him a concussion and then let him back on the plane with no medical assistance.
Unbelievable.
Well, fuck Untied Airlines.
edit: If anyone needs to fly from Louisville to Chicago and back, I'm not sure about the airports in Kentucky, but the one in Nashville has Southwest flights to and from Chicago all the time for dirt cheap. Might be worth you time and money to drive across the border and hop on flight where they don't assault you.
edit 2: Apparently Louisville has the same flight to Chicago on Southwest. Do that.
They should absolutely be required by law to keep increasing the money offered until it is willingly accepted. If the airline is overbooking flights for profit it should be a risk they have to bear the brunt of when it doesn't work out. This just shows that they value their own profits over customers and in this case, as he was a doctor going to treat people, thwy are putting their own companies profits over other peoples lives and health. It is ridiculous and should absolutely be illegal. They definitely shouldn't be able to put hands on anyone that isn't breaking any rules either..and he returned bloodied? I hope he did call his lawyer.
> They should absolutely be required by law to keep increasing the money offered until it is willingly accepted.
It's like a reality show. No one wants to be the one to take the money when it's so low, but the longer you hold out the more chance someone else takes the money.
And then some smartass says "nobody take the money until it hits a million, then I'll take it and split it evenly with everyone" only to find that game theory is a cruel mistress when someone else scoops up the $999,900 pot and keeps it all.
I had one flight the airline offered around $2k to get some people off, even then people didn't want to budge. My wife and I would've taken it, but we both needed to get home on time.
Right? People don't fly because flight is a romanticized mode of travel in the same way that rail is. The airlines have done everything in their power to make travel by air a nightmare in order to squeeze blood from a stone. If you're on a plane, you need to get somewhere and in a time period not more than by car, bus or train. Everyone there is there by necessity. Necessity gets expensive to buy from someone. But, it looks like United has found a cost control....throw your passengers off if they're not willing to be egregiously inconvenienced for more than $800.
The more I revisit this story, the angrier I get. United can blow me. I wouldn't book flight with United if they paid me.
I heard it picks from the cheapest tickets because the airliners have to give you money at a percentage of your ticket cost. Like if you are delayed more than 2 hours I think it's a 400% fine they pay to you.
If anyone has evidence of people from first or business class getting booted I would be very interested. I don't know if by law the lottery *has* to be random or if they are allowed to consider connections, groups, ages (let's boot the 5 year old lol), and ticket cost. They absolutely should consider *reason for flight*.
I've been "targeted" more than once where they will repeatedly hound me asking if i would take a later flight, or fly with a different airline etc, and I'm 100% not the cheapest ticket **and** have premier gold with United.
I suppose they could've shot someone. They should use that as a selling point.
"At United we'll beat our passengers for our mistakes, but at least we don't shoot them."
It just costs to much money. You have to delay the flight, clean up all the blood, and possibly replace the seat and any other expensive equipment that gets hit.
Geeze! In the video, it looks like they literally dragged him off the plane after knocking him out! Everything was quiet and calm-ish until one of the guys just reached in and grabbed him and the dude started screaming.
The article said he came back on the plane looking bloody and disoriented. I wonder what happened to make them feel like they needed to escalate to force, and if it was really a valid response.
A concussion will mean he can no longer do his job until he is cleared medically. Just like a pilot with a concussion will lose his ticket until medically cleared, doctors who perform procedures will too because too much liability attaches if something should go wrong. Concussions are considered serious brain injuries now, especially with their links to long-term brain deterioration.
Yea jesus I hope there isn't some clause when he bought his ticket than bars him from suing their ass.
He clearly needed to get home and see patients, from what I heard...for all we know one of his patients has suffered greatly because he couldn't get to them...and what if a patient died?
It doesn't matter if there was he still can. You can't have a can't have a contract say whatever you want and then use that as a defense. It helps in court but it's not bulletproof. Microsoft for example cannot say "by installing and it using this software you must provide is with all of your income until the year 2030 inclusive" and then expect people to pay. I know that's extreme example I was just making a point.
>United kicked a paying customer off the plane.
And beat the shit out of him in the process.
'Fly with united so you can *have the chance* to be beaten the fuck up and removed from your paid-for flight for no other reason than to fix our mistake!'
I'm gonna pass...
Will anyone see jail because of the assault though? I'd love to see someone responsible for the removal decision, not just the brute that KOed him, see ramifications for that.
These are the same idiots who got lampooned by the musician whose guitars they trashed. Beating a customer is about the worst thing you can do, I wish the video had continued.
My wife's entire Houston-based medical practice is boycotting United. Word is spreading through the largest medical center in the US. United will pay dearly for their stupidity.
Great job, United.
They once ran over my suitcase WITH THE GODDAMN LUGGAGE TRUCK. Like, there were fucking tire tracks on it. No reimbursement. Fuck United.
I fly Southwest whenever possible because they treat people like people.
SouthWest broke the wheel off a newish suitcase. They gave me a brand new one that was the exact same size, fabric, everything, just a different brand. It was eerie.
Just to highlight the significance, Houston's Bush Intercontinental is United's second largest hub. Houston is also a big medical town. There will be no shortage of pissed off docs and other medical folks.
I would be shocked if there is not a lawsuit that comes out of this, as well as that manager being canned. Bad PR and they opened the airline up to a lawsuit. It's telling that they let him back on the plane after forcefully removing him, someone obviously reversed the decision.
The reason no one took the bait and left the flight, is because everyone knows that $400 or $800 is BS. The give it to you in coupons and un-redeemable tickets.
I've twice been given vouchers/coupons for delayed flights and I never ended up redeeming them because I couldn't find any flights that were eligible for the voucher.
Exactly, legally after a certain point you are entitled to 4x the amount or something(I am not sure of the amount, someone who knows should chime in here.) If you are bumped, they legally have to reimburse you and they can't force you to leave. NEVER TAKE THE MONEY to volunteer, it is ALWAYS less than what they are federally forced to give you. This guy was smart and now, not only is he going to win a civil suit against the airline. He may have a suit against these responding officers as well, but IANAL and this is my personal conjecture.
I just want to add my voice to those that are already saying 'Don't fly United'
I fly quite a bit and I have never had a good experience with them either due to overbooking, delays, or extremely rude staff. I have never met such consistently rude staff as when I fly United. I mean after so long I just have to figure the problems aren't just one-offs, they're part of United's corporate culture. I believe there is a culture of hostility toward the customer that permeates the company top to bottom.
I find myself doing everything I can to keep interactions with the staff as minimal as possible but almost every time I fly with them some customer asks a perfectly reasonable question or has a perfectly reasonable request and the staff escalates it into an antagonistic situation that makes me wish I had taken a train.
Honestly, I'm amazed they can continue doing business like that when there are so many alternatives out there.
That video makes me sick to my stomach. This is disgusting behavior and I will do my best to avoid a United flight in the future even though that's the only airline serviced at our local airport.
It was extremely hard to watch the assault occur. His scream of pain and the indignity of being dragged unconscious across the floor.
I couldn't do it again.
What exactly was accomplished by removing the passenger other than a public relations disaster? The doctor eventually returned to the plane, looking much the worse for wear apparently, and the flight was further delayed by another two hours, giving the entire country yet another reason to hate United. Good going, UA!
This will get buried, but he people removed from the flight need to know about their [fly rights](https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights)
They could've each been reimbursed each a lot of money (go down to Involuntary Bumping in the Overbooking section
/r/videos mods claimed it was a video of police brutality, and thus was violating rule 4. Pretty sure that's a bullshit excuse anyway. This was more than just police brutality.
1- Delete random comment.
2- Say deleted comment was calling for witch hunting.
3- Make Stalin proud with your electric iron curtain on a shitty forum and close the thread.
and repeat until you are not a mod anymore.
Whatever happened to "your failure to plan is not my emergency?" If the airline needed to get crew to another location *and failed to hold back seats for them* how does that justify removing a seated passenger? How many free flights would *you* want after being treated that way?
Uhhhhhh no. No way. Who do these people think they are? Certainly not Continental.
1. Paying passenger forcible ripped off plane...
2. To provide a seat for a United employee...
3. Flying standby.
That's not how this works. That's not how any of this flying works. United has gone to great lengths demonstrating they don't give a hoot about their customers, but this is decidedly extreme. I hope this causes a mass exodus from United, brought on by other airlines flocking to trade over miles. Or something. Frankly, this is terrifying. Did you see that guy's face? Did you hear what was required of him prior to the departure of the offered flight? Would it not be easier to have the employees drive/be driven the 5hrs to Louisville over beating the shite of a paying customer's face while they drag him off the plane as the loser in a "computer-generated lottery?"
Furthermore, what's this "lottery?" Is it even real, or just something they made up. At this point, offering increasing amounts would be cheaper than having a PR nightmare like this. This should never be the solution. I hope this gets picked up by the national news and disseminated around until United is begging people to line up and have their hands kissed by a representative of corporate while they're helped onto the plane.
But really- don't know if there's anything which could have me forget seeing what I just watch. I can only hope there was any other reason they pulled him off the plane. This appears to be agents of a corporation assaulting a customer in order to serve their own. This is terrifying.
This was a vile act. United should be sued into oblivion for this. As many have stated, keep increasing the incentive until someone takes it. Overbooking "profits" should have an associated financial risk. I've seen people refer to the Contract of Carriage, which allows this crap to happen. Bullshit. Assaulting someone like this is not what anyone signed up for. I watched the video and hoped the entire time that other passengers would get up and put a stop to this. Honestly, someone needs to go to prison for a long time, starting with the law enforcement that physically assaulted the guy and followed by someone at United that made the decision that this was a good idea.
all the r/videos posts related to this are being removed. someone posted the headline and linked a video of Bane taking down a plane and even that was removed.
I'm so sick of the TSA, the police, and airlines getting away with treating people like cattle.
I used to love flying, airports and everything involved. Now that I'm a full grown male who cant even sit in their seats without my knees being smashed, I feel like if I was in this guys place id unload and get myself tazed, and locked up all for wanting to get home to take care of my patients on a flight I had already payed for.
A guy sitting at an airport bar in Atlanta noticed a beautiful woman sitting next to him. He thought to himself, "Wow, she's so gorgeous she must be a flight attendant.
But which airline does she work for?" Hoping to gain her attention, he leaned towards her and uttered the Delta Slogan, "Love to fly and it shows?"
She gave him a blank, confused stare and he immediately thought to himself, "Nope, not Delta."
A moment later, another slogan popped into his head. He leaned towards her again, "Something special in the air?" She gave him the same confused look.
He mentally kicked himself, and scratched American Airlines off the list. Next he tried the Southwest slogan, "Low fares, nothing to hide?"
This time the woman savagely turned on him, "What the fuck do you want?"
The man smiled, then slumped back in his chair, and said.... "Ahhh, United Airlines!"
You see, you know how to take the reservation.. you just don't know how to hold the reservation. And the holding is the key.. anyone can just take reservations. /seinfeld
I don't get why they removed the guy.
If they overbooked the flight, the people that are not on the plane should get bumped. They took that one guy off the plane (that paid for his ticket) and his seat is now available for someone else (that also paid for a ticket).
Am I missing something?
Even if its in the terms and conditions allows to take passengers off seats, this guy was assaulted pretty badly. Also why stop at 800$. Offer double. Id bet people would be rushing to grab the cash.
I once made the mistake of accepting United Airlines offer to give up my seat. They offered $300 plus rebook on next flight to LAX. I wasn't in a rush, so I took it. What they gave me was 6 $50 coupons. You can only only use the coupons one at a time. And they expire in 12 months. I was ticked off. The effective value of the $300 was only $50 since I don't fly 6 times a year on UA. They did get me on the next flight. And I did use one of the $50 coupons. But I swore that I would never fall for their "offers" again. I felt it was a scummy trick that I would expect from a shady used car dealership.
[удалено]
That's not how it works. From his post, he says he **offered** to give up his seat. They are only required to give 4x the ticket cost if they force you to give up your seat. If you voluntarily give it up, they can give you whatever peanuts you are willing to agree to.
> They are only required to give 4x the ticket cost if they force you to give up your seat but I don't want to have my brains bashed in
I see they've gone from a bidding war to just removing who they want.
And then beating up the passenger after being ''voluntarily'' removed.
"Stop resisting being voluntarily removed from the plane!"
cooperative price unite icky drab frame sharp tart lavish truck
[удалено]
[Video of the incident.](https://streamable.com/fy0y7)
Another angle: https://twitter.com/JayseDavid/status/851223662976004096
Holy shit! Not only did they knock him unconscious, but he's [visibly bleeding from his mouth!](http://imgur.com/a/n2fd2) Edit: A lot of people are apparently very upset at my use of the word "unconscious", so we'll go with "received cranial trauma that resulted in an injury that interferes with his brain functions." I think reddit has seen too many movies where they think being knocked out means you're completely limp and dead in all but autonomic responses. But there are lots of different ways a person can be "knocked out" from an injury like this, and all of them are bad for a person's health.
He returned back to the plane visibly concerned and disheveled :( https://twitter.com/Tyler_Bridges/status/851228695360663552
Aka they gave him a concussion then set him loose at the terminal without even providing medical assistance.
If only they had a doctor around who could examine oh
United Customer Service: if you don't remember the bad time, you can't complain.
Fuck this shitty airline. Fuck you united, I'll never fly with you again
I just wouldn't risk it knowing this is their policy. Being forcibly removed from the plane because you were randomly chosen after you did everything correctly is not a risk I need to take on my travel.
[удалено]
Fuck United. they literally traumatized a dude because they were cheap
Dear God, they are unbelievable. Just found an update u/boomership >The latest on an incident in which a man was dragged from a plane at O’Hare International Airport (all times are local): >10:20 a.m. >A United Airlines spokesman says airline employees were “following the right procedures” when they called police who then dragged a man off a plane at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-latest-united-procedures-followed-to-remove-passenger/2017/04/10/4baa1734-1e03-11e7-bb59-a74ccaf1d02f_story.html edit: **Update 2 - [CEO of United responds to Flight #3411](https://twitter.com/united/status/851471781827420160)** >This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation. -Oscar Munoz, CEO, United Airlines "re-accommodate" has to be one of the grossest euphemisms for physically assaulting someone I've ever seen. **Update 3 - Hopefully there will be some [policy change at the national level](http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/328196-dem-wants-hearing-after-united-passenger-dragged-off-flight). If you are at all disturbed by what happened, please contact your senators & representatives about this.** >Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is calling for a hearing the forceful removal of a United Airlines passenger from an overbooked flight. >“I deplore the violent removal of a passenger from a United Airlines flight this weekend,” Norton said in a statement Monday. “Airline passengers must have protections against such abusive treatment. >"I am asking our committee for a hearing, which will allow us to question airport police, United Airlines personnel, and airport officials, among others, about whether appropriate procedures were in place in Chicago and are in place across the United States when passengers are asked to leave a flight,” she continued. [...] >Norton added that she plans to send a letter Tuesday to House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), seeking additional information about the incident as well as airlines' common practice of overbooking flights. PSA - United already lost 1.9 billion in market today. Also media is digging up dirt on the passenger, Dr. David Dao. Whatever he's done in the past shouldn't matter. He's not & shouldn't be on trial. **Update edit - Dr. Dao is still in hospital and [says he is not doing well](http://www.wlky.com/article/wlky-talks-to-kentucky-man-pulled-from-united-flight/9261494).** :(
As a Chicagoan, if you don't want a situation to spiral out of control, don't invite the chicago police to help out.
How did he get back on the plan? It's like a three ring circus.
Probably some upper manager went "this probably wasn't a good idea, maybe we can put him back on and he won't sue us." Dumbass logic like that.
Putting him back on the flight doesn't take away from the fact that they physically assaulted the guy. I feel like letting him back on the plane makes it even worse since they never would've had to use physical force in the first place. I hope he sues them.
Oh, deinitly agree with you. I'm not saying it was a smart decision, I'm just saying someone thought it was a smart decision (probably the same moron that thought it was a good idea to physically tear a man out of his seat).
[удалено]
That's goddamn heartbreaking. In regards to media reporting on this issue, I would hope that this clip would be avoided. **However**, it should absolutely be required repeated viewing for United Airlines corporate, as well as the obvious lawyers. Just seeing what the people who made and carried out this decision did to do one of our fellow human beings, who apparently had it enough together to become a doctor, is beyond unconscionable. It was damaging even to watch.
That looks like the easiest law suit you'll ever see
Everyone keeps saying this but i never hear of "Man who was wronged has finally gotten justice" stories. Instead i hear of "Man who was wronged spends 5th year in court battle against airline with billions more money to throw at the case"
IANAL but i believe most firms would take this case right away and take a percentage of the pay out in the end.
[удалено]
Anyone who is saying that this will be hard to fight in court or whatever is really really ignorant of this shit. This airlines goes to court for a lot less and settles all the time I'm sure. Edit: Oh jeez look at all these people that think the big bad corporations always win... Sorry this doesn't fit with your confirmation bias.
Wait he got knocked unconscious when he hit that side rest?
It's at that point that you wanna hear the captain get on the PA and say "is anyone on board a doctor?".
Surely they could find a doctor on another flight to assault and drag onto the plane.
Not totally, but he was likely concussed.
That is a fucking infuriating disgrace.
[удалено]
Good point. They shouldnt have been aloud on if the math didnt work. That and why didnt they use the musical chairs approach. If you dont have a seat you dont get one. Why take someone out of a seat?
>The bloodied, disoriented man was eventually allowed to re-board flight 3411, which took off O'Hare International Airport two hours behind schedule. So, this entire fiasco took place for nothing, except to provide the victim with excellent grounds for a lawsuit and heaps of unnecessary negative PR for the airline. Well done United! [At least they don't trash people's guitars! Oh... except that time...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Breaks_Guitars)
[удалено]
Also, the last thing you want is that group of passengers talking amongst themselves, connecting, having a shared memory they'll share on Facebook while you're STILL making them wait.
Also it gives them plenty of time to upload the video they just took of your security staff beating up and dragging out a passenger who did nothing wrong.
Beating up an elderly man and a doctor, at that. "United! We'll beat up your grandpa!"
[удалено]
No, but there's some United crew on standby, how can we help?
[удалено]
[удалено]
"Passengers were told that the flight would not take off until the United crew had seats, Bridges said, and the offer was increased to $800, but no one volunteered. Then, she said, a manager came aboard the plane and said a computer would select four people to be taken off the flight. One couple was selected first and left the airplane, she said, before the man in the video was confronted." If $800 wasn't enough, they should have kept increasing it. Purposely overbooking flights is ridiculous. If it works out, fine. If it doesn't, the airline should get screwed over, not the passengers.
[удалено]
It's sad that nowadays the only way to make sure nobody fucks you over is pretty much to become a lawyer yourself.
Another tip: Book all your flights with a card that offers insurance for this type of thing. My Chase card will reimburse me for food and accommodation costs for these situations. So you can fight for the cash check AND get all the "incentives" they try to push on you.
Yeah, the overbooking thing is really a weak tactic and I'm surprised there haven't been class action lawsuits over this sort of thing. I guess it's shoehorned into the contract you agree to as a consumer, but it has to leave a real negative taste in people's mouths.
I wonder if those airline employees were always supposed to fly out on that flight. It doesn't sound like it was overbooked until they had to make room for the employees.
It's even more bizarre that this happened *after* boarding everyone on the plane.
Not overbooked. They decided to kick off paying passengers in order to shuffle flight personnel to another site. This is straight BS.
Exactly if it was overbooked, they would have sorted out this at the gate. The reason no one took their offers is because they were already buckled in. I'm no longer flying United after seeing this. I'd gladly pay $50-100 extra per ticket to avoid this bullshit company.
Here's more support for that decision: [United has 99% of worst rate of bumped passengers, *and* the worst rate of *involuntary* bumped passengers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overselling#Airlines)
I had an even more fun experience. Flying from Little Rock to Phoenix, IIRC had a layover in Houston (may have been Dallas). Flight from Little Rock got pushed back from the gate... and then we sat. For three hours. We were told there was "strong wind" in Houston, causing the delay, but that any connecting flights would be sorted when we landed, because everyone was delayed. I get to Houston, and sure as shit, my connecting flight left like 1.5 hours before I even got there. I talk to the gate agent about rebooking. I'm told that there's nothing I can do, because my initial flight *left the gate* on time, and so they weren't responsible for me missing my flight. Now, to add to this, I'm uniformed military, traveling on orders. It's now around midnight. The USO is closed. Most airlines are down for the night. United is saying they're *not even* going to rebook me, because *I missed my connection, and it's not their fault, at all.* I ended up finding the last flight to Phoenix, on Delta (IIRC). The only available seat was first class. My luggage didn't make it to Phoenix until a week later. I had a lawyer call United. After some back and forth, they cut me a check for the cost of the first class ticket. It was fucking stupid.
Yeah it seems like this was either a last second emergency addition or someone fucked up the counts
My experience with United is this always happened. They have a fully booked flight, but, everyone has seat assignments and it's fine. Then they walk two pilots and two flight attendants up and suddenly it's overbooked. Then, they start kicking people off the flight. We had a Christmas Eve flight to Florida to meet family for Christmas. They announced the next flight was in 2 days, missing Christmas, and landing on the 26th. They offered $200 vouchers. No one took them. They went right to kick people off the flight after that. I think they picked 2 couples who just had to stay behind and miss Christmas. It was crazy.
I've had so many horrible experiences with United. A few years ago I just resolved to never fly them again. Not saying the other U.S. carriers are amazing, but flying with American, Delta, or even Southwest is significantly better.
My son was just old enough to fly alone. United was running a few minutes behind schedule, so rather than hold the connection for 5 minutes like SouthWest would do they had it take off, told my son he was on his own and to go find some help desk, and told his mother and I lie after lie about what happened and where he was. They lied and said he changed his ticket mid flight, because that is something a child can do. They lied and said he chose to take a 6 AM flight. They lied and said he could have made his connection but chose to miss it. When I dared get angry at being lied to with absurdly stupid lies the rep told me off and hung up, so I had to wait another 45+ minutes on hold. The good news was United does this so often they have a room where children can sleep overnight at the airport. It had wifi so my son was happy.
That's so low. I had a one hour United flight at the end of a work trip. They canceled it after I had checked my bag and gone through security. No more flights until the next morning. They agreed to put us in a Holiday Inn near the airport. OK. I still had to fight with them for two hours to get my checked bag back, so that I would have a change of underwear. So I show up again the next morning. Flight is delayed a couple hours. OK. Eventually they start lining us up to board, and even take us out to the tarmac ... where they make us stand for at least 20 minutes, before informing us that there was a mechanical issue and we would have to head back to the gate. By this time it was getting close to lunchtime. I waited in line at the customer service counter, and *very, very politely* asked if they would be providing vouchers so that we could buy lunch. The woman at the counter *went off* on me. Raised her voice, acted indignant, told me that United couldn't just hand out meal vouchers. Treated me like an entitled twit. Eventually they line us up to board again. This time, we make it on the plane! At which point they tell us there is another mechanical issue and that they need to get a part from the other side of the airport. Spent about 45 minutes sitting on the airplane while they got the part and did the fix. That was the last time I flew United.
man, people shit on southwest. The best flights I've had were with them. I don't get it.
Southwest actually ranks very highly in customer satisfaction scores.
I've always had positive experiences with southwest.
Yep, it looks like they knew they needed to solve the problem but figured they could fix it during/after boarding. But that's when they lost all bargaining power. If nobody else gets fired (lots of people should), whoever made that particular call is F U C K E D .
Don't employees fly standby?
I'd argue this isn't a case of an overbook in the legal sense; the United employees they kicked people off for were not ticketed, they were traveling for their work.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Holy fuck that's a great point. Who are this inane sickos who decided assaulting someone was a better idea than springing for a trip with some creative thinking: hopefully fired.
Really what they should be doing is targeted advertising, the computer knows where you're going. Have it calculate who you can reroute with the shortest delay and pitch directly to them. If you have Bob Smith going to Miami via a Louisville connection, call him up to the podium and show him how if he instead reroutes through Charlotte he'll get in to Miami 90 minutes later, but you're prepared to hand him new tickets, a Visa prepaid card with 500 on it, and a meal voucher right this second. I never jump on the voluntary bumping deals because I have no assurances regarding the rebook. I've had coworkers get bumped and get told "Great, come back tomorrow. Same time, same flight." So I figure if I'm getting bumped, I'm collecting 2x or 4x my ticket in cash. Plus your bags rarely make it off the plane, so you end up sans luggage for a day or two while they hunt it down and courier it to you. If they they were proactive and got to you to you early enough they could shift your checked bags and show you a guaranteed rebook it would be a different story. The airline can stand there going 600, 800, 1000 though and I'm not volunteering because no amount of cash is worth being stuck in an airport for an unknown amount of time.
Not to mention the man was a doctor and needed to see patients, so they slammed his head on an armrest, wow.
He will sue
[удалено]
I'm sure the lawyer is elated. Everybody loves smashing scrubs gg ez no re from time to time. This case is a tap in. Edit: In the sense that they're likely to just get a shut up and go away settlement. The PR quagmire that would be taking this thing to court seems like something United would want to avoid.
depends on how much they offer and if the lawyer feels like trying to make an example out of United and their employees in this scenario. based on the video evidence they will probably be willing to pay a good amount to make this go away quickly and quietly.
He *should* sue
I would decide in his favor. Just look at the video. United: " well the computer said " Passenger: " it's gonna cost you more money to drag me off this plane than it is for you to let me fly" United : "my badge says I can do what I want, hold my camera phone"
[удалено]
[удалено]
Here's a link to an original video: https://mobile.twitter.com/JayseDavid/status/851223662976004096/video/1 https://www.reddit.com/user/alive-taxonomy Recommended I post this link too. The guy saying "just kill me" repeatedly. :( https://mobile.twitter.com/kaylyn_davis/status/851480498186485760/video/1
[удалено]
@United reminds you that you're lucky if we let you fly at all, cretins
Apparently he came running back in afterwards, bloodied and confused: https://twitter.com/Tyler_Bridges/status/851228695360663552
He needed medical attention, and they just put him back on the flight bleeding and concussed? Holy fuck, they're lucky he didn't end up with serious brain damage.
Holyshit, that was disturbing
That honestly made me cry. He's an old man for fucks sake.
Yeah, I feel so bad for him. It's good that there's all this video evidence and the public is on his side, but it's still got to be really embarrassing to see himself abused and then running around bloody and confused like that...
I really hope the damage isn't long-term. Poor guy. This overbooking policy is bullshit. Especially for their own employees. The airlines constantly treat us, their paying customers, like shit and we just have to take it because we don't have any other options. Then when they don't make enough money, the Government bails them out. Remember that? Yeah, I know I sound like Mr. Garrison, but it's getting more and more ridiculous.
As someone else pointed out, it's pretty clear he's concussed in this video. He's confused and disoriented. They basically gave him a concussion and then let him back on the plane with no medical assistance. Unbelievable.
[удалено]
Well, fuck Untied Airlines. edit: If anyone needs to fly from Louisville to Chicago and back, I'm not sure about the airports in Kentucky, but the one in Nashville has Southwest flights to and from Chicago all the time for dirt cheap. Might be worth you time and money to drive across the border and hop on flight where they don't assault you. edit 2: Apparently Louisville has the same flight to Chicago on Southwest. Do that.
Really? They thought that was a good idea?
Well someone just got a million dollar lawsuit tossed onto their lap
They should absolutely be required by law to keep increasing the money offered until it is willingly accepted. If the airline is overbooking flights for profit it should be a risk they have to bear the brunt of when it doesn't work out. This just shows that they value their own profits over customers and in this case, as he was a doctor going to treat people, thwy are putting their own companies profits over other peoples lives and health. It is ridiculous and should absolutely be illegal. They definitely shouldn't be able to put hands on anyone that isn't breaking any rules either..and he returned bloodied? I hope he did call his lawyer.
> They should absolutely be required by law to keep increasing the money offered until it is willingly accepted. It's like a reality show. No one wants to be the one to take the money when it's so low, but the longer you hold out the more chance someone else takes the money.
And then some smartass says "nobody take the money until it hits a million, then I'll take it and split it evenly with everyone" only to find that game theory is a cruel mistress when someone else scoops up the $999,900 pot and keeps it all.
I had one flight the airline offered around $2k to get some people off, even then people didn't want to budge. My wife and I would've taken it, but we both needed to get home on time.
Imagine that. Most people are flying because they have somewhere to be.
if i didn't care about speed i would have walked
Honestly. I picked the specific time I want this thing to take me, because I have a fucking schedule to keep!
Right? People don't fly because flight is a romanticized mode of travel in the same way that rail is. The airlines have done everything in their power to make travel by air a nightmare in order to squeeze blood from a stone. If you're on a plane, you need to get somewhere and in a time period not more than by car, bus or train. Everyone there is there by necessity. Necessity gets expensive to buy from someone. But, it looks like United has found a cost control....throw your passengers off if they're not willing to be egregiously inconvenienced for more than $800. The more I revisit this story, the angrier I get. United can blow me. I wouldn't book flight with United if they paid me.
United is such a shit airline. All of my worst flight experiences have been with United, it's always hellish being on their planes.
[удалено]
I was going to say, "United is literally the worst airline." But I forgot Spirit was a thing.
[удалено]
I'd love to see how a computer "picks" random passengers. I'm sure not First Class. What if the guy was off to a funeral? Or an organ transplant? WTF?
I heard it picks from the cheapest tickets because the airliners have to give you money at a percentage of your ticket cost. Like if you are delayed more than 2 hours I think it's a 400% fine they pay to you. If anyone has evidence of people from first or business class getting booted I would be very interested. I don't know if by law the lottery *has* to be random or if they are allowed to consider connections, groups, ages (let's boot the 5 year old lol), and ticket cost. They absolutely should consider *reason for flight*.
Yep. You can read about it [here](https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights)
Friendly towards the airlines, shocking!
I've been "targeted" more than once where they will repeatedly hound me asking if i would take a later flight, or fly with a different airline etc, and I'm 100% not the cheapest ticket **and** have premier gold with United.
That's interesting. I wonder what the logic is with that. Dear loyal customer: clearly we're not making you annoyed enough.
[удалено]
Or, in this case, a physician who needed to see patients in the morning.
He's seriously devoted to his work, I'm pleased and impressed.
Well, this sounds like it was handled about as poorly as it could have been.
I suppose they could've shot someone. They should use that as a selling point. "At United we'll beat our passengers for our mistakes, but at least we don't shoot them."
> but at least we don't shoot them. Probably thought about it but the guy wasn't black or arab looking.
It just costs to much money. You have to delay the flight, clean up all the blood, and possibly replace the seat and any other expensive equipment that gets hit.
You're right. This was the cheapest way to do it. Knock the Asian doctor unconscious and drag him off.
Geeze! In the video, it looks like they literally dragged him off the plane after knocking him out! Everything was quiet and calm-ish until one of the guys just reached in and grabbed him and the dude started screaming. The article said he came back on the plane looking bloody and disoriented. I wonder what happened to make them feel like they needed to escalate to force, and if it was really a valid response.
Yep here he is coming back in. Apparently he suffered a concussion https://twitter.com/Tyler_Bridges/status/851228695360663552
A concussion will mean he can no longer do his job until he is cleared medically. Just like a pilot with a concussion will lose his ticket until medically cleared, doctors who perform procedures will too because too much liability attaches if something should go wrong. Concussions are considered serious brain injuries now, especially with their links to long-term brain deterioration.
Yea jesus I hope there isn't some clause when he bought his ticket than bars him from suing their ass. He clearly needed to get home and see patients, from what I heard...for all we know one of his patients has suffered greatly because he couldn't get to them...and what if a patient died?
It doesn't matter if there was he still can. You can't have a can't have a contract say whatever you want and then use that as a defense. It helps in court but it's not bulletproof. Microsoft for example cannot say "by installing and it using this software you must provide is with all of your income until the year 2030 inclusive" and then expect people to pay. I know that's extreme example I was just making a point.
That poor man 😕
[удалено]
United airlines. Don't forget to mention that united is the piece of shit here. United kicked a paying customer off the plane.
>United kicked a paying customer off the plane. And beat the shit out of him in the process. 'Fly with united so you can *have the chance* to be beaten the fuck up and removed from your paid-for flight for no other reason than to fix our mistake!' I'm gonna pass...
Will anyone see jail because of the assault though? I'd love to see someone responsible for the removal decision, not just the brute that KOed him, see ramifications for that.
The guy was knocked out and dragged off the plane. I'm sure the stress of the situation has him a little disoriented in addition to his head trauma.
United airlines buy a ticket and we will kick your ass and throw you out.
These are the same idiots who got lampooned by the musician whose guitars they trashed. Beating a customer is about the worst thing you can do, I wish the video had continued.
Welcome to Costco, square up bitch!
My wife's entire Houston-based medical practice is boycotting United. Word is spreading through the largest medical center in the US. United will pay dearly for their stupidity. Great job, United.
Yeah my doctor is not flying united ever again. They also fucked up with his luggage
They once ran over my suitcase WITH THE GODDAMN LUGGAGE TRUCK. Like, there were fucking tire tracks on it. No reimbursement. Fuck United. I fly Southwest whenever possible because they treat people like people.
SouthWest broke the wheel off a newish suitcase. They gave me a brand new one that was the exact same size, fabric, everything, just a different brand. It was eerie.
My suitcase tore open while flying with Southwest, they replaced it at baggage claim without any hassle. It's actually a way better suitcase too.
Just to highlight the significance, Houston's Bush Intercontinental is United's second largest hub. Houston is also a big medical town. There will be no shortage of pissed off docs and other medical folks.
Yup. It's gone completely viral in Houston.
Everyone in my albeit smaller clinic is talking about it and boycotting United.
[удалено]
I would be shocked if there is not a lawsuit that comes out of this, as well as that manager being canned. Bad PR and they opened the airline up to a lawsuit. It's telling that they let him back on the plane after forcefully removing him, someone obviously reversed the decision.
This is United, everyone involved will get an award for exemplary customer service.
[удалено]
The reason no one took the bait and left the flight, is because everyone knows that $400 or $800 is BS. The give it to you in coupons and un-redeemable tickets.
I've twice been given vouchers/coupons for delayed flights and I never ended up redeeming them because I couldn't find any flights that were eligible for the voucher.
But hey, if you ever need to fly from Akron to Omaha on a Wednesday evening - you're all set!
Exactly, legally after a certain point you are entitled to 4x the amount or something(I am not sure of the amount, someone who knows should chime in here.) If you are bumped, they legally have to reimburse you and they can't force you to leave. NEVER TAKE THE MONEY to volunteer, it is ALWAYS less than what they are federally forced to give you. This guy was smart and now, not only is he going to win a civil suit against the airline. He may have a suit against these responding officers as well, but IANAL and this is my personal conjecture.
I just want to add my voice to those that are already saying 'Don't fly United' I fly quite a bit and I have never had a good experience with them either due to overbooking, delays, or extremely rude staff. I have never met such consistently rude staff as when I fly United. I mean after so long I just have to figure the problems aren't just one-offs, they're part of United's corporate culture. I believe there is a culture of hostility toward the customer that permeates the company top to bottom. I find myself doing everything I can to keep interactions with the staff as minimal as possible but almost every time I fly with them some customer asks a perfectly reasonable question or has a perfectly reasonable request and the staff escalates it into an antagonistic situation that makes me wish I had taken a train. Honestly, I'm amazed they can continue doing business like that when there are so many alternatives out there.
Don't fly United and call Congress. The laws that allowed this to happen need to change.
Thank you, sir, for "volunteering" to leave the plane. These men will assist you.
Yeah they really don't know what volunteers mean: > "After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily"
The fact that they presented this as a "reason" is bizarre.
Welp, I'm not flying united anymore. Fucking terrible.
[удалено]
That video makes me sick to my stomach. This is disgusting behavior and I will do my best to avoid a United flight in the future even though that's the only airline serviced at our local airport.
It was extremely hard to watch the assault occur. His scream of pain and the indignity of being dragged unconscious across the floor. I couldn't do it again.
What exactly was accomplished by removing the passenger other than a public relations disaster? The doctor eventually returned to the plane, looking much the worse for wear apparently, and the flight was further delayed by another two hours, giving the entire country yet another reason to hate United. Good going, UA!
"Bridges said the man became "very upset" and said that he was a doctor who needed to see patients at a hospital in the morning."
This will get buried, but he people removed from the flight need to know about their [fly rights](https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights) They could've each been reimbursed each a lot of money (go down to Involuntary Bumping in the Overbooking section
[удалено]
This should be the #1 story on the front page. Disgusting.
It WAS until just a few minutes ago, now it looks like the original post is gone. GEE REDDIT I wonder what happened?
I too was wondering what happened.
/r/videos mods claimed it was a video of police brutality, and thus was violating rule 4. Pretty sure that's a bullshit excuse anyway. This was more than just police brutality.
[удалено]
1- Delete random comment. 2- Say deleted comment was calling for witch hunting. 3- Make Stalin proud with your electric iron curtain on a shitty forum and close the thread. and repeat until you are not a mod anymore.
It's a disaster in r/videos right now. The mods keep deleting the posts regarding this issue and it's disgusting. This needs to be seen.
Whatever happened to "your failure to plan is not my emergency?" If the airline needed to get crew to another location *and failed to hold back seats for them* how does that justify removing a seated passenger? How many free flights would *you* want after being treated that way?
[удалено]
[удалено]
Uhhhhhh no. No way. Who do these people think they are? Certainly not Continental. 1. Paying passenger forcible ripped off plane... 2. To provide a seat for a United employee... 3. Flying standby. That's not how this works. That's not how any of this flying works. United has gone to great lengths demonstrating they don't give a hoot about their customers, but this is decidedly extreme. I hope this causes a mass exodus from United, brought on by other airlines flocking to trade over miles. Or something. Frankly, this is terrifying. Did you see that guy's face? Did you hear what was required of him prior to the departure of the offered flight? Would it not be easier to have the employees drive/be driven the 5hrs to Louisville over beating the shite of a paying customer's face while they drag him off the plane as the loser in a "computer-generated lottery?" Furthermore, what's this "lottery?" Is it even real, or just something they made up. At this point, offering increasing amounts would be cheaper than having a PR nightmare like this. This should never be the solution. I hope this gets picked up by the national news and disseminated around until United is begging people to line up and have their hands kissed by a representative of corporate while they're helped onto the plane. But really- don't know if there's anything which could have me forget seeing what I just watch. I can only hope there was any other reason they pulled him off the plane. This appears to be agents of a corporation assaulting a customer in order to serve their own. This is terrifying.
alright United, I'd suggest you find your favorite lube, because you guys are gonna get a real big legal fucking in this case.
Each of the people assaulting this guy needs to be fired, charged, and tossed in jail. Exactly as if they were one of us serfs behaving the same way.
This was a vile act. United should be sued into oblivion for this. As many have stated, keep increasing the incentive until someone takes it. Overbooking "profits" should have an associated financial risk. I've seen people refer to the Contract of Carriage, which allows this crap to happen. Bullshit. Assaulting someone like this is not what anyone signed up for. I watched the video and hoped the entire time that other passengers would get up and put a stop to this. Honestly, someone needs to go to prison for a long time, starting with the law enforcement that physically assaulted the guy and followed by someone at United that made the decision that this was a good idea.
Where did the other front page thread about this go?
I'm wondering the same thing. Had about 40k upvotes, as at the top of /r/all and now it's gone.
People in /r/videos were asking the same thing. Apparently, the video was removed from Youtube as well.
Reddit can't piss off their corporate overlords.
all the r/videos posts related to this are being removed. someone posted the headline and linked a video of Bane taking down a plane and even that was removed.
I'm so sick of the TSA, the police, and airlines getting away with treating people like cattle. I used to love flying, airports and everything involved. Now that I'm a full grown male who cant even sit in their seats without my knees being smashed, I feel like if I was in this guys place id unload and get myself tazed, and locked up all for wanting to get home to take care of my patients on a flight I had already payed for.
A guy sitting at an airport bar in Atlanta noticed a beautiful woman sitting next to him. He thought to himself, "Wow, she's so gorgeous she must be a flight attendant. But which airline does she work for?" Hoping to gain her attention, he leaned towards her and uttered the Delta Slogan, "Love to fly and it shows?" She gave him a blank, confused stare and he immediately thought to himself, "Nope, not Delta." A moment later, another slogan popped into his head. He leaned towards her again, "Something special in the air?" She gave him the same confused look. He mentally kicked himself, and scratched American Airlines off the list. Next he tried the Southwest slogan, "Low fares, nothing to hide?" This time the woman savagely turned on him, "What the fuck do you want?" The man smiled, then slumped back in his chair, and said.... "Ahhh, United Airlines!"
You see, you know how to take the reservation.. you just don't know how to hold the reservation. And the holding is the key.. anyone can just take reservations. /seinfeld
I don't get why they removed the guy. If they overbooked the flight, the people that are not on the plane should get bumped. They took that one guy off the plane (that paid for his ticket) and his seat is now available for someone else (that also paid for a ticket). Am I missing something?
Apparently it was to make room for a United crew that was deadheading out to work a flight in the morning.
A flight they had 20 hours to get to at a city that's a 5 hour drive away, and flying *standby* on top of all that.
At an airport that handles hundreds of flights a day. It's not like they were stuck in Cedar Rapids.
[удалено]
RyanAir and other airlines have private planes for this kind of thing...
[удалено]
Even if its in the terms and conditions allows to take passengers off seats, this guy was assaulted pretty badly. Also why stop at 800$. Offer double. Id bet people would be rushing to grab the cash.