United they fall
So, a man was forcibly hauled off an airplane by police because United Airlines overbooked the flight. Why Should Police Help United Airlines Cheat Its Customers?
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
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April 10th, 2017 at 10:17 pm
I disagree with the commenters who claim that the police can’t enforce the ticket because it is a civil contract, but are free to bust skulls when the airline decides that the man is trespassing. The proper place to sort this out is a courtroom, not by cops beating people into submission.
The man had a ticket, which he had paid for. The fact that the airline decided to change their mind AFTER the money had been taken becomes a contractual dispute. Let them sue, but cops should not get involved with contract disputes.
I can imagine myself being on an airplane that I booked 6 months in advance, a ticket where I must pay a $400 cancellation fee to change, and having to take a flight the next day would result in me missing my connecting flight/cruise/surgery appointment, and all the airline has to do is kick me off, and say “sorry, read the fine print”
April 11th, 2017 at 9:12 am
If I were the passenger in this case I would be pressing criminal charges as well as a civil lawsuit.
April 11th, 2017 at 11:01 am
In all fairness to the cop, all he was probably told was that “there is a passenger who needs to be removed from the plane and he’s refusing to get out of his seat.”
It doesn’t excuse the heavy handling of the passenger though.
April 11th, 2017 at 11:04 am
This is not something to get upset about. In fact, it’s a good time to point and laugh at the poor idiot they dragged off the plane.
1. They didn’t pick the guy randomly. In the event a flight is oversold, and nobody volunteers to vacate the plane, they choose the poor asswipe based on pecking order. They try not to remove members of families travelling together and unaccompanied minors etc. Then it comes down to pecking order (where did you buy your ticket, what fair class, when, etc). Don’t like it? Tough shit, you *agreed* to it when you bought your ticket (it’s in the contract, which is your ticket, read the fine print or shut up).
2. The asswipes tantrum not withstanding, someone has to get off the plane. What do you want the airline to do? Make him an honorary flight attendant? Bolt an extra seat down somewhere? Stuff him in an overhead bin?
3. This wouldn’t happen if we weren’t all such a bunch of cheap bastards. Seriously. Airline X doesn’t haul anyone off flights because they don’t oversell, but they do charge $30 extra per ticket. Airline Y hauls yer lumpy ass off the plane kicking and screaming if you like, but charges less. Then we all rush to buy the cheap tickets and are surprised that we get what we pay for.
Now where’d I put my tiny violin…
April 11th, 2017 at 6:15 pm
@ben:
What I want the airline to do is honor the ticket they sold. Failing that, they are free to negotiate with the passengers to BUY the seat back.
I recently flew from Orlando to New Hampshire to have a surgical procedure done. That procedure was not covered by insurance, so I had to pay for it in advance, in cash, no refunds.
If my flight had been full and they wanted to bump me under similar circumstances, I would have refused, because the surgery cast far more than the $1000 they were offering to this man.
There are any number of reasons why you wouldn’t want to be forced from a flight, with the next available flight being more than 24 hours later.
April 11th, 2017 at 9:33 pm
Divemedic, steps can be taken to guarantee that you won’t get bumped. Probably have to buy into a higher fare class or buy direct through the airline instead of orbitz and the like. Might need to call to book and make sure you cannot get bumped, check in early, be early, etc. If it’s that critical then it behoves the customer to take a little extra time to make sure.
Especially now after this incident, nobody can claim they didn’t know.
April 11th, 2017 at 9:59 pm
@ben,
The asswipes tantrum not withstanding, someone has to get off the plane.
This appears to be factually incorrect: the airline wanted to put people on the plane that did _not_ have tickets — specifically airline employees that had _nothing_ to do with the flight in question. The plane was _not_ oversold and the passengers were _already_ seated. The airplane could have flown with the passengers that were seated and the airline could have made other arrangements to move their personnel.
April 11th, 2017 at 10:07 pm
Does seem kinda crappy.
April 12th, 2017 at 8:55 pm
On the other hand, if I’m asked to deplane, am I going to pitch a fit and get dragged off kicking and screaming? No. Well, not unless someone is capturing a video of the ordeal. In that case I’m kicking and screaming all the way to the bank.