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United physically removing paid passenger from plane

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by tvon, Apr 10, 2017.

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  1. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    I agree they can't do that everywhere. But the airlines have an incredible wealth of data on customer patterns and their flights. That's how they maximize fare prices for every seat on a flight. So I believe they could have planned for this contingency better. In this scenario, they oversold a flight on the busiest travel day of the week out of a major hub, but still planned to use that flight to transport some of their employees. They should have planned better. Airlines do use relief crews. They should have had one ready to go in Louisville.
     
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  2. Rush

    Rush MIA

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    A United flight attendant gets ready to, "slap a bitch" who refuses to get off the plane.


    [​IMG]
     
    • Funny Funny x 3
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  3. Chicken Dinner

    Chicken Dinner Low-Roller

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    Shoot. The number of folks willing to take the side of a billion dollar corporation that has a long history of terrible customer service and their hired goons over a human being is disappointing. United screwed up. The "cops" screwed up. The guy just wanted to go home.
     
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  4. Drewm1972

    Drewm1972 VIP Whale

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    I was just reading latest and passenger suppose to be a "doctor" and wanted to go see his patients if such claim is true then Oh boy, it will be very interesting how it plays out.
     
  5. Kolmeseiska

    Kolmeseiska Low-Roller

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    I think both parties are to blame here, each could have handled the situation differently. United will lose A LOT of money because of this and I hope the man gets prosecuted for his actions as well.
     
  6. IWannaBeInVegas

    IWannaBeInVegas VIP Whale

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    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jimmy-kimmel-united-commercial_us_58ec7654e4b0df7e2044b81e
    Watch the video.

    I have been following the twitter hashtag: #newunitedairlinesmottos which has been entertaining.

    I don't think what happened to the guy was funny, I think it was an over reaction on all parts. But I will say when the police (and by no mistake these guys are police) tells you to get off a plane, out of a car of what ever, and they have the legal authority to do so, its in your best interest to listen.
     
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  7. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    We've come a long way from the days when air travel was a glamorous adventure with elegant treatment. Amazing that some here are blaming the passenger instead of United, as I understand it, they are permitted to go up to $1350 in compensation, they never got near it, in fact they're lying when they say they offered 1K(all the passengers said they stopped at $800). Looks like some tough guy agent decided that $800 was plenty for "the likes of you" and then sent in the thugs.

    Those precious United employees could have driven to louisville faster than they got there, considering the plane was delayed 2+ hours for them to clean up the blood of the beaten man.
     
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  8. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    I agree with you 100%! There were many ways to defuse the situation which weren't employed, especially having the situation resolved before people actually board, but arguing with flight-attendants is one thing (though I don't even agree with that), disobeying the cops is another. Today it's coming out that this "Doctor" was convicted in 2005 on 98 felony counts of illegally prescribing and trafficking pain-killers, in addition to writing prescriptions in exchange for sex and a handful of other charges. His license was suspended and he just recently got it back. He's now allowed to practice only one day a week in an outpatient facility. Now that's no reason to slam him around like a rag-doll and drag him up the aisle, but WTF? When the cops say it's time to leave, it's time to leave... if you feel you've been wronged, there are ways to argue the point later. You don't scream like a stuck pig in your seat, hold onto shit and force their hand.
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2017
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  9. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    Wow, they're trying to dig up dirt on the poor guy to smear him, that's expected and sad. Lets change the narrative from united's treatment of it's customers to the importance of "obedience". Yea the guy should have got up when he was ordered to, but it NEVER should have got to that point.
     
    • Agree Agree x 4
  10. Chicken Dinner

    Chicken Dinner Low-Roller

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    For a supposedly free country it's concerning to me how much the American mind has been trained to OBEY above all else. Cops, businesses, the govt. Fear and obedience are the overwhelming messages sent by American govt and businesses. There's a destructive and unhealthy logic in thinking that bc the man refused to give up the seat the appropriate response was state violence.
     
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  11. tvon

    tvon VIP Whale

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    Knee jerk for sure. I totally disagree that the onus is on this passenger. You can make the argument that he should of obeyed, and he probably should have. But United let it get to that point. And surprise surprise, the officer that manhandled him off the plane? Hes on administrative leave right now. Its not looking good for the Chicago Aviation police right now either.
     
  12. Kolmeseiska

    Kolmeseiska Low-Roller

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    I don't understand what the police did wrong there? The airline had all the legal rights to remove the passenger from the plane, he wouldn't leave so the cops had to do it. I'm sure they told the guy what's going to happen if he doesn't walk out of the plane with his own feet. Should they have threaten to call his mom or what? Blame the airline or the airline worker who made the decision to have the guy removed from the blame.
     
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  13. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    Anybody digging up dirt on the cop(see if he's prone to excessive violence), or the gate agent(see if they're having marital issues or were bullied as a child, etc)? Suppose the next time the airline wont go over $400, or $200, is that ok, listen and obey or else?

    Keep in mind this whole episode is caused by the airline practice of overbooking, deliberately selling more tickets than seats, in other words, greed.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  14. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    "Fight The Powa"!!! I get it and in many ways agree, but there's ways to do it and ways not to. How 'bout the other 120 (I'm guessing) some passengers on this flight who were incredibly inconvenienced and delayed so this fella could run around acting like an idiot... "I need to go home, I need to go home." The other day I was taking off outta Reno and we'd barely gone wheels up with plane still ascending at a pretty steep incline and a guy comes from the middle of the plane up to the front to use the bathroom! I sit in the 3rd row, so I can hear the flight attendant emplore him to return to his seat. Just then the plane lurches a bit and the guy falls into the row ahead of me on an old lady. No one was hurt, he mumbles he's sorry, but ignores the flight-attendant and goes into the bathroom. This kinda shit happens all too often when individuals decide for whatever reason, the "rules" don't really work for them and they need to invoke "their" freedom.

    In a free country, I'm not really for whatever some Tom, Dick or Harry decides is best for their freedom at the possible expense of others. Some protests, I believe given the injustice, merit the inconvenience to others... but not a seat on an airplane IMHO.

    As an aside... I wouldda tossed the mouthy lady screaming, "OH MY GOD... look at what you're doing to him!" as well... just because... but that's just me. I kid, I kid!
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2017
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  15. Chicken Dinner

    Chicken Dinner Low-Roller

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    I wonder too what role passenger's demographics played in the situation. Asian, male, senior citizen. Does a guy built like Rob Gronkowski get the same treatment? How abt a little blond women? A 20 yr old black guy? Someone with a disability? A teenage girl? A 10 yr old in leggings? He's 69, does an 80 yr old?
    I'm not a fan of power structures committing violence bc they can as opposed to absolute need.
     
  16. Chicken Dinner

    Chicken Dinner Low-Roller

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    I hear you. But, I think the onus is on United to find a better way. I think the guy who got beat up is the victim in all this. And to blame him for a long series of terrible decisions by United and a terrible decision by the security guys is perhaps misplaced.
    The beating will continue until moral improves.
     
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  17. deansrobinson

    deansrobinson VIP Whale

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    I think one thing that may have factored into the decision to remain seated was that this was the last flight out to St. Louis that day - and the next one would be the following afternoon. Were this not the 'last flight out', there may have been takers. I'm sure if there was guaranteed seat on the next flight, that might have influenced people as well.
     
  18. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Jeesh! This is **STILL** in heavy rotation on the TV down in the lunch room!

    LOL, so much for "Fly The Friendly Skies!"

    What they should have done is had a "auction", have the contingent of pax "reverse bid" for their seat and take the lowest one. :)
     
  19. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    I've had the hotel thing happen to me. In Vegas actually. I booked a package on Mark Air (they dont even exist any more) and it included 3 nights at NY NY. This is before I understood about comps. We get to NY NY, wait in line for what seemed like forever and the hotel was sold out. We had our confirmation numbers and everything, but it was oversold. They did put us up at MGM instead, so we got a room, but hotels do this sort of thing as well.

    Some more info, over 40,000 people get bumped in the US from their flights. Obviously not like this, and the vast majority take the payout. But this happens a lot.

    I took the payout once, we were supposed to leave for Florida at 7AM but the flight was overbooked. We took something like $300 and meal vouchers to fly out 4 hours later. There was two of us, and that was like $600 towards a future vacation. It seemed like a good deal. We were young and had no idea it was really funny money.

    We couldn't travel on certain days, and we couldn't use codes to get a discount on the flights or take part in any sales. It was only good for rack rate. The actual value of those coupons was more like $100 each, and the meal was good for $10 at Wendy's in the airport. There is a reason why people dont jump on these buyouts!
     
  20. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    I'm in Chicago, and since this happened in my backyard its being blasted on every media outlet. Someone who was on the flight called in to one of these news programs and said this passenger actually agreed to the $800 and was willing for him and his wife to give up their seats. Once he found out that he would have to fly out the next day he changed his mind.

    I know other people are saying it was random, but this caller said he did volunteer his seat, and his wife got off the plane without incident. But dude just flipped out and wouldn't go after changing his mind. Another caller backed up that story and added that the police tried to talk him out for 20 minutes but he became belligerent and wouldn't listen. And those cops that were called were just told by United that they had a passenger refuse to get off the plane.

    So it seems like they didn't know about the dead heads or overbooked flight. They just knew they had a passenger problem with a guy who was not listen to anyone and refused to get off. For all they might have known, this guy could have been starting trouble with others and was a menace. Not sure what United shared with the cops before hand outside of "Get this prick off our flight".

    So I cant point the finger at the cops, at least not yet.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
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