There were four aircrew that needed to get to the destination. Nobody wanted to give up their seats. The doctor was on-call or had patients (surgery?) the next morning so he couldn’t stay overnight. The airline held some sort of random choosing thing, and ordered those people off. When the doctor refused to give up his seat, they should have just picked another number and asked that next person to leave. And they should have done it before they loaded. Or, even better, they should have put the aircrew on a different flight - or a private flight if necessary. Their scheduling problem, and nasty habit of overbooking 10+%, shouldn’t have resulted in a passenger being dragged off a plane unconscious and in shock.
Airlines I think are frozen in what they can offer monetarily - 3 times the one-way ticket I think. So, now they get to offer this passenger a few million and free flights for life. And they’ll have plenty of seats for their air crew; as people cancel their tickets and go with another carrier.
Well said!!!
The passenger was 69 years old, and his wife was with him. The 69 year old passenger/doctor somehow re-boarded the plane, bloodied and very confused. That was horrible decision by United. They had plenty of time to sort out the overbooking BEFORE they boarded the flight. At worst, they could have offered twice what they were offering, PLUS hotel. I hope he sues and wins.
Why would UA have to pay him million? I’m sure he will get some temporary perks as a result of the situation, but he has no case against UA. The police officer on the other hand, who doesn’t work for UA, could have resolved the situation without needing to use such force. UA’s policies are clear and you agree to them when you purchase the ticket. As well, if you are asked to leave the plane, you don’t go back to your seat and refuse to leave.
Agreed. The CEO made another major mistake after the fact, too. In business, it’s always better to be smart than right.