The CEO is now saying that the passenger was dragged off because he became disruptive and belligerent. When asked to get off a flight for which he had a valid ticket and boarding pass.
He will be an ex CEO by Easter.
Yeah, could be plenty of available seats in the United boardroom.
I understand why overbooking happens and why it keeps prices down. Not that it's right but airlines are on a race to the bottom. Even BA is not immune as service quality has plummetted in order to avoid price rises.
The approach needs to be more measured though. The rules ought to be changed so that people are incentivised to volunteer to be bumped to a later flight, such as vouchers for future flights, and vouchers for free food, drink and if necessary hotels at the airport.
How does overbooking keep the costs down ? Surely, if you buy your ticket, the seat is paid for ? In this case, the man was sitting in his seat. Surely check in would have controlled the number of people on the plane ?
Twitter has gone crazy over this. The recordings show an assault & America being a very litigious country, are likely to get sued heavily. It is looking like they will also lose a lot of business over this with the backlash.
Thanks @Fiiish That's a really clear explanation. It would be interesting to know the percentage United Airlines use for no shows. They are going to have look at situations where everybody shows up. Dragging a passenger randomly off the flight, is disastrous PR for their business & totally wrong.
What I don't understand is to why they gave boarding cards out to too many people, surely they are able to control how many people get on the plane. If they need to get their own staff somewhere then that needs to be done before they seat passengers.
Yes, I imagine their profit/loss algorithm doesnt take into account the cost of negative PR of your heavies beating the snot out of a defenceless paying customer.
The real issue is that this wasn't sorted out well before anyone boarded the plane. This basically means United were letting people on board who simply were not meant to be there. Massive security and safety issues there.
What United have done here is wrong (interestingly there is no mention of the actions of the Captain, who is ultimately wholly responsible for what happens on his / her aircraft - in theory none of what happened could have happened without his / her permission).
But....I don't think this would have been a security issue based on my understanding of what happened. No-one was onboard that didn't have a ticket - the issue is that they wanted to remove people that did..
Maybe not in this instance but if United cannot get basic stuff like this right what are the odds they are fucking up everywhere else?
We got asked if we would take a later flight when we flew out to Poznan in 91 for a European Championship qualifier. Got offered the cost of the flight in cash and had to take a flight about 2 hours later. Jumped at the chance as the match wasn't until the following evening. We blew the return flight out and caught a train back via Berlin, Amsterdam and Belgium, the extra cash coming in very handy in Amsterdam.
The CEO is now saying that the passenger was dragged off because he became disruptive and belligerent. When asked to get off a flight for which he had a valid ticket and boarding pass.
He will be an ex CEO by Easter.
You have to admire his chutzpah. Most CEOs would be probably heading down the apology route and desperately trying to put the fire out. Instead, despite the overwhelming evidence out there, the CEO said that the passenger was 'reaccomodated' and that the passenger was not cooperating. I'd like to see how cooperative he would be whilst a group of men broke his jaw and beat him unconscious.
Got bumped by Alitalia once as lead in a party of 7. Stuck us on a flight four hours later, gave our full ticket cost back and a further £75 each in food/drink vouchers.
@Fiiish and @LiveByTheSword were completely ratted in the Weatherspoons come take off time.
Aside from the airline, I am waiting for the security personnel to be named and shamed.... Won't take long for somebody to recognise them from the videos going round.
They and their families lives will be utterly ruined by this if there is any justice. And I won't have any sympathy for them.
Come on @Leuth, this comment is crying out for you.
Aside from the airline, I am waiting for the security personnel to be named and shamed.... Won't take long for somebody to recognise them from the videos going round.
They and their families lives will be utterly ruined by this if there is any justice. And I won't have any sympathy for them.
Come on @Leuth, this comment is crying out for you.
I won't have much sympathy either, though of course if they were under orders from higher up to throw them off then maybe a bit.
Having a United Airlines mileage plus account that I essentially only have cos my FIL worked with them for years - they have plenty of other issues outside this anyway. Fucking miserable cabin staff who are nothing like as friendly or open as other airlines like Virgin or BA, fuck knows where they get the food from but it is shite - pasta or chicken EVERY bloody time. And the bread roll shouldn't make it through security - it's a lethal weapon. And on my last flight to LA my screen froze every time I was 10 mins in to Bad Neighbours 2. Meaning I had to spend 10 hours using the free on board wifi. Which was so slow it took me 3 hours to upload one post onto this board.
Frankly maybe getting knocked out by the staff would have made the flight go faster.
I have thought for a while they could be a Pan Am waiting to happen but does the Star Alliance collaboration lessen the chance of that happening?
Having a United Airlines mileage plus account that I essentially only have cos my FIL worked with them for years - they have plenty of other issues outside this anyway. Fucking miserable cabin staff who are nothing like as friendly or open as other airlines like Virgin or BA, fuck knows where they get the food from but it is shite - pasta or chicken EVERY bloody time. And the bread roll shouldn't make it through security - it's a lethal weapon. And on my last flight to LA my screen froze every time I was 10 mins in to Bad Neighbours 2. Meaning I had to spend 10 hours using the free on board wifi. Which was so slow it took me 3 hours to upload one post onto this board.
Frankly maybe getting knocked out by the staff would have made the flight go faster.
I have thought for a while they could be a Pan Am waiting to happen but does the Star Alliance collaboration lessen the chance of that happening?
In all honesty mate, you'd have been complaining even more if you had managed to watch all of Bad Neighbours 2.
United Airlines' share price is currently down just over 3.5%, wiping $675million off the market value of the company. They should have hired an executive jet for their four extra passengers. Each.
The CEO is now saying that the passenger was dragged off because he became disruptive and belligerent. When asked to get off a flight for which he had a valid ticket and boarding pass.
He will be an ex CEO by Easter.
You have to admire his chutzpah. Most CEOs would be probably heading down the apology route and desperately trying to put the fire out. Instead, despite the overwhelming evidence out there, the CEO said that the passenger was 'reaccomodated' and that the passenger was not cooperating. I'd like to see how cooperative he would be whilst a group of men broke his jaw and beat him unconscious.
I understand why overbooking happens and why it keeps prices down. Not that it's right but airlines are on a race to the bottom. Even BA is not immune as service quality has plummetted in order to avoid price rises.
The approach needs to be more measured though. The rules ought to be changed so that people are incentivised to volunteer to be bumped to a later flight, such as vouchers for future flights, and vouchers for free food, drink and if necessary hotels at the airport.
How does overbooking keep the costs down ? Surely, if you buy your ticket, the seat is paid for ? In this case, the man was sitting in his seat. Surely check in would have controlled the number of people on the plane ?
Twitter has gone crazy over this. The recordings show an assault & America being a very litigious country, are likely to get sued heavily. It is looking like they will also lose a lot of business over this with the backlash.
Thanks @Fiiish That's a really clear explanation. It would be interesting to know the percentage United Airlines use for no shows. They are going to have look at situations where everybody shows up. Dragging a passenger randomly off the flight, is disastrous PR for their business & totally wrong.
What I don't understand is to why they gave boarding cards out to too many people, surely they are able to control how many people get on the plane. If they need to get their own staff somewhere then that needs to be done before they seat passengers.
This is a really good point. They must know they are overbooked and must then know they have too many passengers at the gate to fly. They should deal with it there and then.
if 4 people got on wouldn't 4 of had of have been removed?.
I see you've edited your comment. But I am still not quite sure what it means.
i edited it as i put it and am the wrong letters round.
if 4 members of airline staff were seated on the plane surely 4 members of public would have to be removed?, just didnt see reports of any other people being forcibly removed from the plane.
I understand why overbooking happens and why it keeps prices down. Not that it's right but airlines are on a race to the bottom. Even BA is not immune as service quality has plummetted in order to avoid price rises.
The approach needs to be more measured though. The rules ought to be changed so that people are incentivised to volunteer to be bumped to a later flight, such as vouchers for future flights, and vouchers for free food, drink and if necessary hotels at the airport.
How does overbooking keep the costs down ? Surely, if you buy your ticket, the seat is paid for ? In this case, the man was sitting in his seat. Surely check in would have controlled the number of people on the plane ?
Twitter has gone crazy over this. The recordings show an assault & America being a very litigious country, are likely to get sued heavily. It is looking like they will also lose a lot of business over this with the backlash.
Thanks @Fiiish That's a really clear explanation. It would be interesting to know the percentage United Airlines use for no shows. They are going to have look at situations where everybody shows up. Dragging a passenger randomly off the flight, is disastrous PR for their business & totally wrong.
What I don't understand is to why they gave boarding cards out to too many people, surely they are able to control how many people get on the plane. If they need to get their own staff somewhere then that needs to be done before they seat passengers.
This is a really good point. They must know they are overbooked and must then know they have too many passengers at the gate to fly. They should deal with it there and then.
I think that the 4 staff members turned up after the plane had been boarded. Either way surely they would have known that the staff members were due, they don't have employees randomly flying around their network!
if 4 people got on wouldn't 4 of had of have been removed?.
I see you've edited your comment. But I am still not quite sure what it means.
i edited it as i put it and am the wrong letters round.
if 4 members of airline staff were seated on the plane surely 4 members of public would have to be removed?, just didnt see reports of any other people being forcibly removed from the plane.
It may be that three other passengers were able to take the "bribe" and wait for the next flight.
United Airlines insists they "followed the right procedures" after video of a passenger being dragged from an overbooked flight and being left with a bloodied face sparked outrage.
As the flight waited to depart from Chicago's O'Hare Airport, police officers could be seen grabbing the screaming man from a window seat, pulling him across the armrest and dragging him down the aisle by his arms.
The airline was trying to make room for four of its employees on the Sunday evening flight to Louisville, Kentucky.
Passenger Audra D Bridges posted the video on Facebook. Her husband, Tyler Bridges, said United offered $US400 and then $US800 in vouchers and a hotel stay for volunteers to give up their seats.
When no-one volunteered, a United manager came on the plane and announced passengers would be chosen at random.
"We almost felt like we were being taken hostage," Mr Bridges said.
"We were stuck there. You can't do anything as a traveller. You're relying on the airline."
When airline employees named four customers who had to leave the plane, three of them did so. The fourth person refused to move, and police were called, United spokesman Charlie Hobart said.
"We followed the right procedures," Mr Hobart said.
"That plane had to depart. We wanted to get our customers to their destinations."
not the right way to deal with people at all, but im sure the passengers would of complained if none of them didnt get to there destinations.
United Airlines' share price is currently down just over 3.5%, wiping $675million off the market value of the company. They should have hired an executive jet for their four extra passengers. Each.
This is what will get rid of their CEO, shareholders don't give a shit until it affects them.
Comments
@Fiiish and @LiveByTheSword were completely ratted in the Weatherspoons come take off time.
Frankly maybe getting knocked out by the staff would have made the flight go faster.
I have thought for a while they could be a Pan Am waiting to happen but does the Star Alliance collaboration lessen the chance of that happening?
if 4 members of airline staff were seated on the plane surely 4 members of public would have to be removed?, just didnt see reports of any other people being forcibly removed from the plane.
United Airlines insists they "followed the right procedures" after video of a passenger being dragged from an overbooked flight and being left with a bloodied face sparked outrage.
As the flight waited to depart from Chicago's O'Hare Airport, police officers could be seen grabbing the screaming man from a window seat, pulling him across the armrest and dragging him down the aisle by his arms.
The airline was trying to make room for four of its employees on the Sunday evening flight to Louisville, Kentucky.
Passenger Audra D Bridges posted the video on Facebook. Her husband, Tyler Bridges, said United offered $US400 and then $US800 in vouchers and a hotel stay for volunteers to give up their seats.
When no-one volunteered, a United manager came on the plane and announced passengers would be chosen at random.
"We almost felt like we were being taken hostage," Mr Bridges said.
"We were stuck there. You can't do anything as a traveller. You're relying on the airline."
When airline employees named four customers who had to leave the plane, three of them did so. The fourth person refused to move, and police were called, United spokesman Charlie Hobart said.
"We followed the right procedures," Mr Hobart said.
"That plane had to depart. We wanted to get our customers to their destinations."
not the right way to deal with people at all, but im sure the passengers would of complained if none of them didnt get to there destinations.