United Airlines: Passenger violently removed due to overbooking

I am absolutely appalled at the treatment of this Asian Doctor who was randomly selected with 3 other passengers, when the airline overbooked the flight. They tried to get some volunteers to fly the day after, after first offering $400, no one volunteered, so they doubled it to $800 and no passengers still volunteered so a manager had apparently said a computer would randomly select 4 people.

Two people who had been selected initially, got off the plane without protest but the doctor passenger refused saying he needed to be back home as he had patients booked to see him the next day.

In a video of the incident that has emerged, you can see security personnel violently remove him. He ended up blooded and bruised.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39554421

They completely assaulted him! As well as United being in trouble someone needs to look into the actions of the security officers.

---------- Post added at 18:46 ---------- Previous post was at 18:42 ----------

Video of the guy still on the plane here, bloody and clearly very traumatised. Warning the video shows those things, it's not nice: https://twitter.com/kaylyn_davis/sta...71574385307648

[pip08456]

Bottom line, it should not be possible to overbook passengers. Once the plane is full no more bookings should be accepted.

If a passenger doesn't turn up then it is a bonus for the airline as they can then sell on the seat which has already been paid for.

I know of several friends that have been the victim of overbooking.

[adzii_nufc]

Non justifiable force, this is not how you deal with someone that won't move. If I could get people out of doors without knocking them unconscious then these three can surely move one man off a plane. Just pure aggression, no form of proper restraint shown at all, no attempt to use reasonable force (known techniques) to move him, just plainly and clearly dragged him without mentioning what's occurring before that.

All three should be arrested on Assault charges, United whilst not being entirely to blame here will likely end up settling in the next few days as this blows over in an attempt to avoid seeing a court room. Overbooked flights are incredibly common. It's the follow up to these three idiots that will be the actual case to watch.

---------- Post added at 18:57 ---------- Previous post was at 18:55 ----------

Originally Posted by pip08456

Bottom line, it should not be possible to overbook passengers. Once the plane is full no more bookings should be accepted.

If a passenger doesn't turn up then it is a bonus for the airline as they can then sell on the seat which has already been paid for.

I know of several friends that have been the victim of overbooking.

Sadly that's the exact reason they overbook them, using yearly statistics to actually make assumptions 'X%' of people won't show up for their flight.

It's a pretty stupid system and I can't imagine it pans out in their favour in all the time given they have to compensate those that get chucked off or leave voluntarily.

I think the CEO of United Airlines has now aged 10 years and aware by now that this is totally bad for them.

But I was so mad when I saw this that I felt compelled and emailed UA's CEO to inform him of my disgust.

I think United Airlines, are in damage limitation mode right now because this is all over Twitter and on all news networks in the US and here. They ought to be ashamed of their conduct and I'm convinced they have acted illegally.

[papa smurf]

lawyers will be queuing up for this

[adzii_nufc]

Originally Posted by Mick

I think the CEO of United Airlines has now aged 10 years and aware by now that this is totally bad for them.

But I was so mad when I saw this that I felt compelled and emailed UA's CEO to inform him of my disgust.

I think United Airlines, are in damage limitation mode right now because this is all over Twitter and on all news networks in the US and here. They ought to be ashamed of their conduct and I'm convinced they have acted illegally.

United Airlines haven't acted illegally as far as I'm aware, they called authorities who in turn acted illegally. You have to separate the difference before a witch hunt sets off in the wrong direction.

United Airlines should be getting flak because they consistently overbook flights using a hilarious percentage statistical model each year and actively assume X% of people won't show up. In this scenario, it was their own staff that couldn't board.

Again in this case, I don't believe it is illegal to select people at random if no volunteers have arisen. That being said, given his profession and the fact he's evidently stated it's essential for him to be on that flight, it would have made more sense to prioritize him rather than send for security to remove him.

United Airlines- Could've handled this situation far better, they'll settle with the guy given the media outcry but they seriously need to reconsider their policy.

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by adzii_nufc

It's a pretty stupid system and I can't imagine it pans out in their favour in all the time given they have to compensate those that get chucked off or leave voluntarily.

Actually it's not. If a person has booked a seat and paid for it, if they don't arrive at the required time before flight then they lose it. The airline can then sell it on to anyone waiting for a cancellation.

Unfortunately in this case the flight has simply been overbooked, something United do all too frequently.

[adzii_nufc]

Originally Posted by pip08456

Actually it's not. If a person has booked a seat and paid for it, if they don't arrive at the required time before flight then they lose it. The airline can then sell it on to anyone waiting for a cancellation.

Unfortunately in this case the flight has simply been overbooked, something United do all too frequently.

Yeah, derp moment when I'm not factoring in the money they then keep for those that didn't show. Not sure why I didn't consider that, which of course makes perfect sense from a business point of view and shows that Overbooking isn't just a game of chance.

Unfortunately for UA, a google of their overbooking practices only leads to 8 pages of searches for this news story. They have to settle Asap.

Incoming lifetime free flying pass.

Originally Posted by adzii_nufc

Yeah, derp moment when I'm not factoring in the money they then keep for those that didn't show. Not sure why I didn't consider that. Thus essentially getting to sell that same ticket twice.

Unfortunately for UA, a google of their overbooking practices only leads to 8 pages of searches for this news story. They have to settle Asap.

Incoming lifetime free flying pass.

Would you say the passengers who witnessed this also become eligible for compensation as they looked physically distressed ?

Well if its the US, I'm sure a bunch of Lawers will try that one as well.

[adzii_nufc]

Originally Posted by Mick

Would you say the passengers who witnessed this also become eligible for compensation as they looked physically distressed ?

Everyone that was inconvenienced deserves something from this. Make no mistake, United Airlines set the events in motion with their shoddy practices. There were several better ways out of this, starting with their overbooking policies, moving onto higher compensation before calling in the 'repo men' or simply just prioritising this man because he was a doctor that had hospital schedules he couldn't fulfill if he left the flight. If you upped that benefit for getting off, someone will have eventually jumped. Job done, far cheaper than what it's going to cost them now. This wasn't a direct result of simply overbooking though, everyone had a seat, they wanted their own staff on the plane to occupy those seats for their scheduled employment at the destination and AFAIK they refused to take off until four people had given up their seats. It's the fact that is legal that's annoying.

There needs to be two battles here though, the one against UA that caused this, and the one against three men that illegally assaulted a man on a plane. I have a feeling the latter will just vanish if UA put up compensation and everybody accepts it as case closed, those three still want arrested and charged with assault.

Seems to be no solid confirmation whether these lot were Police or Security Officers, it makes no difference of course, it's still unjust force, it's just that the Police tend to get away with it more often than not.

Obviously failed to mention, Police or Security's employers will also be dragged into this now. I'd expect the three to be instantly dismissed if they're Security and suspended if Police.

If they actually removed the guy without assaulting him, the most we'd have right now is disgruntled passenger ejected from flight, something that sadly occurs daily thanks to overbooking practices. It only takes one incident to blow that all up and that's happened.

I just read a woman traveller on Delta Airlines, agreed to give up her placement, twice this weekend, she has netted $11,000 for doing so though.

[adzii_nufc]

Yeah, there's sometimes a hefty incentive for doing so, obviously $800 wasn't enough in this case but it's going to cost far more now.

It just made more sense to keep upping that 800 until someone volunteered. I'm sure in 99% of case they can have someone removed safely, sadly the other 1% where the security you've called in are overly aggressive have then caused a major news storm painting your company in bad light.

Be certain that UA are working with their legal team writing up non disclosure and essentially gagging orders for him to sign in return for some decent Wonga. As for the three thugs, we have to wait and see now as UA are dominating the story.

[pip08456]

So you agree that if you've paid for a seat you should then give it up? To me it matters not the reason, it's paid for and should be available. There is no excuse for overbooking except to make the company more money.

Don't forget UA would have been paid for the seat, if the person didn't turn up on time then they have a genuine reason to sell it on but to deliberately overbook in the beginning is wrong IMHO.