United Air forcibly removes passenger on overbooked flight

[SMiller]

It's because he was Chinese. He said so. Also, based on the good doctors past, it may help us understand why he went ballistic. It fits his diagnosis.

You have issues, I think you need help. I could care less what the guys background was, he was wronged and will now be rich because of it, he wins/the airline looses.

 

[Fizzerpilot]

Maybe he will become rich. United will fold. Then with less competition, airfares will rise and so will employee compensation. It's the circle of life.

 

[Fizzerpilot]

Random would REALLY suck.

If I'm flying with my family, and one of us gets "randomly" picked, the price is going to be REALLY high.

If dude was the last one to get a ticket, or the last one to board or something superficial like that, it would almost be rational.

Would've been even better if they'd gone over the intercom and said, "He ya'all, if we don't get one more volunteer, we're going to kick this guy's ass as we get him out of the plane. Anyone want to save this guy the humiliation and us the lawsuit?"

Nobody would have gotten up. They would have video taped the ass kicking, and posted it to the interweb.

 

[avboiler11]

Haven't read this whole thread...

Can't speak for United's policies, but involuntary bumping generally is done via combination of lowest fare and latest check-in time...so likely not "random".

IMO, the four passengers who had to be invol'd never should have made it on the aircraft; the must-ride deadheading crew should have been given seat assignments and the invols dealt with at the gate prior to boarding.

But that didn't happen...so if one person needs to come off and they won't - DEPLANE THE ENTIRE JET. Get people off the narrow aluminum tube, back into the terminal, and deal with it at the gate.

Easy for me to MMQB - boxes don't care if they are bumped for higher priority boxes.

 

[T.Lex]

Easy for me to MMQB - boxes don't care if they are bumped for higher priority boxes.

Hey now. Boxes' rides matter.

 

[JDGreen]

Just my humble opinion, but I believe United screwed up by letting all the passengers board the plane when they knew they were overbooked. The published rules seem to refer to denied boarding in the case of overbooking. I think they may have gone too far by letting them board and THEN decide who doesn't get to go. May be semantics but I suspect the good doctor will eventually win out.

 

[Fizzerpilot]

Maybe that is the solution... it will increase delays, but deplane them all, deny them in the terminal. But, what if they refuse to deplane? Basically the argument is that once your ass hits the seat, it's yours, and no one can make you move.

 

[Birds Away]

Maybe that is the solution... it will increase delays, but deplane them all, deny them in the terminal. But, what if they refuse to deplane? Basically the argument is that once your ass hits the seat, it's yours, and no one can make you move.

That may be the argument but it's hard to overlook the counterpoint the LEOs registered.

 

[KittySlayer]

Overbooking the plane and then randomly selecting passengers to kick off to accommodate employees was wrong.

If the police give you a command it is best to comply. You can sort everything else out later. Failure to comply will almost always lead to bad things happening.

The doctor refusing to comply with the police was all on him, he was being an ass. The only way you are going to win against the police is in court.

I think the passengers antics of refusing to comply and screaming were simply a set-up for a future lawsuit. He figured the payout would be more if he was "manhandled"

So you are telling me that I could have sued my parents for being "manhandled"?

Perhaps the good doctor just needed a few more spankings when growing up.

 

[Fizzerpilot]

Sounds like the doctor traded drugs for spankings

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Sounds like that's still an irrelevant point.

**** me if I'm ever wronged in the future and have any national attention my way. I'm sure some ****-rag newspaper in bum**** nowhere will dig up my past and make me the bad guy.

It's pathetic and clickbait journalism.

Edit: Or a story pushed by United's legal team to smear the victim in order to reduce settlement payout.

 

[HoughMade]

I remember when adults didn't throw tantrums like 2 years olds...or at least they weren't lauded for it.

Plenty of blame to go around here.

...he was wronged and will now be rich because of it, he wins/the airline looses.

Even without any kind of shady past and if everything goes his way, this is a "walking around money" case, not a "life changing money" case.

 

[target64]

I do not like the whole issue of overbooking a plane to maximize ones revenues. I can also understand the passengers issues with the flight crew. But once the local LEO arrived it is time to shut up, get up, and get moving.

 

[seedubs1]

Pretty sure he wasn't holding his breath and throwing a tantrum. The cops used excessive force, ripped him out of a seat, bloodied him, knocked him unconscious, and drug his limp body off the plane. To do that to a non-violent civilian is excessive.

I remember when adults didn't throw tantrums like 2 years olds...or at least they weren't lauded for it.

Plenty of blame to go around here.



Even without any kind of shady past and if everything goes his way, this is a "walking around money" case, not a "life changing money" case.

 

[HoughMade]

Pretty sure he wasn't holding his breath and throwing a tantrum. The cops used excessive force, ripped him out of a seat, bloodied him, knocked him unconscious, and drug his limp body off the plane. To do that to a non-violent civilian is excessive.

"Sir, leave the plane." He leaves the plane. That's what an adult does. If he wants to take up the issue...like an adult, after that- his right.

Excessive force? Very possibly and this needs to be looked into. That doesn't change the fact that he started down the road of childish behavior.

 

[Denny347]

 

[ghuns]

Oh, so we're in this phase of the news cycle, now. Dude is wronged... so media tries digging up dirt on him. Shameful.

Yeah, like they did in the Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown cases? Oh... Wait...

For some strange reason, this case is not following the same pattern... If only I could put my finger on what the difference is...

And at any rate, while prior bad acts are not always admissible in a real court, they are in the Court of INGO.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Yeah, like they did in the Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown cases? Oh... Wait...

For some strange reason, this case is not following the same pattern... If only I could put my finger on what the difference is...

And at any rate, while prior bad acts are not always admissible in a real court, they are in the Court of INGO.

I definitely stand by relevance. In the cases you listed, I don't think most of their history or past mistakes had anything to do with their eventual fates. Though some would make the argument a life of crime eventually leads you to violence/disrespect for police/etc.

Dao's history is wholly irrelevant to what happened on the plane... and it's just a cheap smear-job.

I don't think Trayvon's photos of gang-signs or whatever it was had anything to do with getting shot by Zimmerman. Though it's easy to equate the type of person to take photos of themselves flashing gang signs with the type of person to attack another person. /shrug... maybe, maybe not. There's another 600+ page thread for that discussion.

 

[HoughMade]

I definitely stand by relevance. In the cases you listed, I don't think most of their history or past mistakes had anything to do with their eventual fates. Though some would make the argument a life of crime eventually leads you to violence/disrespect for police/etc.

Dao's history is wholly irrelevant to what happened on the plane... and it's just a cheap smear-job.

I don't think Trayvon's photos of gang-signs or whatever it was had anything to do with getting shot by Zimmerman.

Yes and no. Some of that information, erratic behavior, drug use, etc. may be relevant depending on what he claims about his actions during the episode and what other evidence there may be. I would agree that, generally, his past would appear to be irrelevant. I am just reluctant to say that there is no possibility that it could be relevant.

 

[singlesix]

United Airlines shares drop after man dragged off flight - Apr. 11, 2017