United is in a heap of trouble. Instead of losing $5000, they are losing MILLIONS! That’s $255 million so far. They lost in the public forum and the CEO of United Airlines handled it terribly from the git go. They should go with: United, fly the UN-friendly skies!
Here is the main reason that United Airlines fucked up. United thinks that they can bump a paying passenger for their own crew, without giving a compensation that is fair for the customer. That compensation is different for each person. Time, money, and inconvenience are things to consider. Here is the report from MarketWatch:
The crew for the flight from Chicago to Louisville, Ky., was reportedly seeking four passengers to give up their seats and take another flight at 3 p.m. on Monday in exchange for a $400 travel voucher and a night at a hotel. They needed the extra seats to accommodate crew members who were flying to another job in Kentucky. When no passengers took the offer, United began to randomly select passengers, including one who said he was a doctor and could not take a later flight. “After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate,” United Airlines said in a statement.
It has been reported that United Airlines has a habit of OVERBOOKING flights around the country. One passenger from Denver flying on United reported several announcements on the over head communication asking for just the same thing on the concourse, and actually on their flight too!
The incident underscores the ongoing frustration consumers have with overbooking, in which airlines sell more tickets than there are seats on a plane in order to maximize profit. Customers who are “involuntarily denied boarding” of an aircraft on domestic flights (even if they’re already on the plane) are entitled to 200% of their one-way fare in compensation (no more than $675) in cash if their delay is more than one hour but less than two, according to a federal regulation. If the delay is more than two hours, they are entitled to 400% of a one-way fare (but no more than $1,350) in cash.
There was no emergency, no imminent threat, no drunkenness, and no disruptive behavior to warrant an forceful removal in the INITIAL confrontation.
Airlines can kick passengers off for a number of reasons. According to the United Airlines Contract of Carriage, passengers can be removed from a flight for being overweight (if they are “unable to sit in a single seat with the seat belt properly secured”) or for smelling bad (”caus[ing] a malodorous condition”), or for being “not properly clothed.” These rulings are made at the discretion of the captain and crew, said Airfarewatchdog President George Hobica. “Passengers have far fewer ‘rights’ than they imagine,” he said.
I hope the gentleman sues United Airlines for minimum of treating him inhumane, being brutalized and receives $500K in punitive damages. Anything he did previously in life has no barring on the incident and more to do with losing his business due to unfair reporting and Facebook postings.
At some monetary point people will start giving up their seats. If not $400 on this fight, then go to $600, $800, $1000 etc. At some point paying customers will agree to leave.
So the moral of the story is, keep bumping up the compensation until someone VOLUNTARILY gives up their seat. Who knows what that price is for people.
