Ag83 said:
themissinglink said:
Ag83 said:
sushi94 said:
Who actually physically removed the man? Was it United Security? is there such a thing? Airport Security at United's request? TSA? Whoever made the decision to physically remove the man is in trouble in my opinion.
Apparently the police. One thing's for sure, as badly as United handled this, when the police show up and tell you too get off, you'd best do it. No chance he was going to win that battle.
I generally agree with you, but If I'm a doctor and taking a later flight could mean the death of a patient, I might refuse. I'm sure the doctor "needing to see patients" angle is played up on this incident, but United playing the "it's in our policy" card is not going to save face.
You can [try to] refuse all you want, but the police are not just going to say "ok" and walk away. They are going to use whatever force is necessary to remove you. And I find it hard to believe he couldn't make arrangements with the hospital to cover his absence - what if the flight had to be cancelled due to mechanical issues or weather?
I do not want to leave the impression that I am defending United here, or that the police didn't use excessive force (not sure on that). I've flown United exactly once in my whole life (and surprisingly had no issues/complaints) but I know their reputation and it seems well earned. I avoid them to the greatest extent possible which fortunately, for me anyway, isn't too difficult. But when the police show up and tell you to get off, you're going to be getting off one way or another whether you want to or not.
I think we're in agreement, but United should train employees to be decent, reasonable human beings. If someone says "I'm a doctor and need to see patients", good excuse. We could challenge it, but I'm sure we can find some poor vacationer or business traveller who can take the next flight. Next person. "I'm a business traveller who wants to get home to see my kids", bumped. My preference is that United be required to keep increasing the voucher amount until someone agrees. Let the market decide the cost of inconviencing me.
The problem with what United did is that now people who are involuntarily bumped will refuse to get off the plane and let the police forcibly remove them. People posting images of your bloodied customer's face all over the internet is a lot more costly than a $1,300 check or whatever it would have cost them to get someone else to volunteer.