All that to remove paying customers to make room for United employees flying free. Amazing!
He'll get a bit more than $800 for getting bumped from that flight.
i understand the "business problem" United (all airlines) face with load managment. like some of you, I have flown millions (no exageration) of miles. Never been asked OFF a plane AFTER receviing a boarding pass (other than a broken plane).
MORE FACTS ARE GONNA COME OUT HERE .. So i will see if i gotta eat any of this later.
This 69-year old doctor (wife is a doctor, son is a doctor, solid citizen by all accounts) and kindly grandpa was NOT a criminal -- but ya start a fight with some "cops", you are likely to get hurt.
My view is United should have NEVER let ANYBODY board (at least not the Coach flyers) until they solved the seating thing.
Airlines usually manage all that crap in the GATE area .. overbooking issues (CANNOT be avoided -- gotta keep the planes filled), offer incentives NOT to board, waiting till last possible minute for no-shows to try to clear waitlists, movin' crews to man other flight so THOUSANDS don't get stranded, etc.
Then, if as a passenger if you NEVER get a boarding pass, you are probably gonna be pissed, BUT unless you act like a real arse, typically nobody bust you in the chops and drags you off somewhere.
End of day .. customer resisted some "cops". Did he have the right to? Yeah ..maybe? Should they have thumped his head? I aint surprised that happened.-- and it looked like incidential thing, NOT like a Rodney King beatdown. But what do you do when a grown man acts like a two-year old?
Anyway, United is gonna give the good Dr. an undisclosed mid-six figure settlement with a gag order, and invite him to fly another airline for the rest of his life, to get this whole debacle to go away. Stock will bounce back within a week I guess.
In hindsite, United should have UPPED the ante to get people to give up their seats. Absent that, guess that flight crew that took the Dr's seat are the ones that get stuck .. and United finds another crew somewhere else and leaves PAYING passengers THEY LET GET ON THE PLANE, alone.
FYI - Can we say NO to a request to "deplane"? The answer? probably NOT!
Here's Why Airlines Think They Can Just Yank You Off the Plane
