Looks like United really screwed up. They could have paid for their 4 flight crew members to take a limo to Louisville instead of what they'll be paying out in this lawsuit.

 

Link to story

 

EDIT: Post title got snipped. Not sure how to edit that.

Edited April 10, 20179 yr by BigSqwert

Seems like there has to be more to it. Seems odd they would drag a volunteer off the flight.

That guy wasn't a volunteer. He is a doctor who stated that he needed to get back to take care of his patients. The problem is that they needed 4 people to give up seats and only one person did. Their "computer" chose random people to be removed with this guy being one of them.

Seems like there has to be more to it. Seems odd they would drag a volunteer off the flight.

 

He didn't volunteer, he was chosen randomly. United's PR team did a horrible job drafting their statement. And obviously United's management team at the airport did a horrible job dealing with this situation.

 

It really should be illegal for airlines to overbook flights, but every airline does it. You would think for the money they have to shell out as compensation for those "volunteers," they would be better off just not overbooking the flight to begin with.

Edited April 10, 20179 yr by JenksIsMyHero

If they were overbooked, why even board the plane? It's a lot harder to get 4 people to volunteer once they're seated on the plane. Completely botched all the way around,

And how far is Louisville? Couldn't their 4 employees get driven there in roughly the same amount of time, maybe a bit longer? Or why not have them fly on another airline?

If they were overbooked, why even board the plane? It's a lot harder to get 4 people to volunteer once they're seated on the plane. Completely botched all the way around,

 

I've been in that situation a few times. On the plane, ready to go and suddenly they look for volunteers. My guess is at the last minute they find out they need crew members at another airport and they realize that specific flight is the fastest route to get there.

 

My wife and I debated taking the offer once. It would have required an overnight stay in Houston, but they were offering 2 free flights anywhere in the lower 48 (for each of us). I was too worried there would be all sorts of restrictions attached, like black out dates or whatever, so we decided against it.

I've been in that situation a few times. On the plane, ready to go and suddenly they look for volunteers. My guess is at the last minute they find out they need crew members at another airport and they realize that specific flight is the fastest route to get there.

 

My wife and I debated taking the offer once. It would have required an overnight stay in Houston, but they were offering 2 free flights anywhere in the lower 48 (for each of us). I was too worried there would be all sorts of restrictions attached, like black out dates or whatever, so we decided against it.

I've taken it numerous times with SWA and they always do it pre-flight and you get a nice voucher and a priority seating position on the next flight. What is show here is f***ing crazy.

Wasn't this a Sunday night flight? Probably a lot harder to find volunteers when people need to get back home to get to work/school for Monday. They could have also kept increasing the voucher amount until they got 4 volunteers.

lol

 

Here's another video of the assault. Imagine if this was your dad who was randomly picked to leave the plane. How would you react?

 

 

Here's another video of the assault. Imagine if this was your dad who was randomly picked to leave the plane. How would you react?

I'd be furious.

 

I already despise United due to their business practices, but these police should have handled this differently.

I think I would be getting shot that day.

United sucks. I don't know why anyone would fly with the big 3. They are absolutely garbage.

Wasn't this a Sunday night flight? Probably a lot harder to find volunteers when people need to get back home to get to work/school for Monday. They could have also kept increasing the voucher amount until they got 4 volunteers.

 

This. My parents have taken the vouchers before, but they are retired.

 

My wife and I have talked about jumping at the offers before, but the deal needs to be really, really good to rationalize missing another day of work from a Sunday flight...

It's all about status at this point (which isn't right).

 

I traveled 25 weeks a year on American for about 4 years. I never had any issues, always had a window in the front of the plane, and about 65% of the time would get an upgrade to first class. But that's all because I was flying all the time.

 

You don't have status, and the expierence is trash.

United is definitely the worst, even their status programs have turned to trash. They tried to charge me a 200 dollar transfer fee to transfer $150 worth of credit to a ticket. They can suck it.

 

I'm SWA and Delta only now.

United is definitely the worst, even their status programs have turned to trash. They tried to charge me a 200 dollar transfer fee to transfer $150 worth of credit to a ticket. They can suck it.

 

I'm SWA and Delta only now.

Yeah, none of the big network airlines are exactly great, but United is special-level bad even among that crowd.

 

United and Delta are trash.

 

Southwest is the best.

United and Delta are trash.

 

Southwest is the best.

SWA certainly has status perks, but its not as crazy as others, and also not as much in your face. For example you arent aware of the reason I am in front of you in line, for all you know I checked in before you did. I like that.

Wow, what a disaster. Someone is getting fired for thinking this is a good idea. No matter what they had to offer to get people off of this flight, it was worth less than the PR disaster they are watching all over media and social media today.

SWA has the most friendly domestic experience. Sure they are corporation but you don't see all the greedy additional fees the other airlines try to push on you.

That was absolutely absurd. In all my years of flying, I've never seen anything like that.

 

Regarding general airline conversation: Living in Atlanta, I only fly Delta. That's a combination of having status, and the fact that I can fly anywhere non-stop + fares are generally good price. Once I lose status, I'll go back to flying Southwest or Delta - whichever is cheaper. I always liked SW a lot. But I've never heard a good thing about United, which is sad. How does such a major airline have such issues?

United is going to put this all on the chicago police.

Whatever happened to just increasing the amount of the travel voucher until you had enough volunteers?

 

My wife and I bailed on coming home for a day once for $1,000 each on American. Of course it cost a little bit for the extra day, but it was well worth it.

There's probably something in the contract language when you're buying your ticket stating that they can select you to be removed at random for an overbooked flight.