Free Republic

Like all airlines, United has a very specific (and lengthy!) contract for carriage outlining the contractual relationship between the airline and the passenger. It includes a familiar set of provisions for when a passenger may be denied boarding (Rule 25: “Denied Boarding Compensation”). When a flight is oversold, UA can deny boarding to some passengers, who then receive compensation under specific guidelines. However, Dao was not denied boarding. He was granted boarding and then involuntarily removed from the airplane. What does the contract say about that? It turns out that the contract has a specific rule regarding “Refusal of Transport”...

Want to help United Airlines avoid another #leggingsgate or #bumpgate? Now’s your chance! The carrier is hiring a Public Relations Manager. You can read the full job description here, but I do find the opening paragraphs of the job description to be not the least bit amusing– Along with transforming the way United does business, we are reimagining our airline’s award-winning Global Communications Team from nose to tail. Led by former Starbucks Corporate Communications executive, Jim Olson, United is building a state-of-the-art communications function that puts strategic storytelling and digital engagement at the center of our employee advocacy, media and...

The person who filmed the video of a man being forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight over the weekend says security is not to blame for the situation. "It's clearly the man's fault that security had to drag him off. He was resisting. I don't blame the security guards at all," Tyler Bridges, who captured the moment on his cellphone, told Fox Business on Tuesday.

f there’s one thing I have learned over the years, it’s that there are always two sides to every story. On April 9th, a very unfortunate incident played out on United Flight 3411, the video of which has since gone viral causing a mass social media uprising with an ‘off-with-their-heads’ mentality. I mean, across the board. Fire ’em all and let the gods sort it out later. Look, I get it. When I first saw the video I was appalled too. To say that it was inflammatory would be putting it mildly. But it was also a situation that was...

Full title..................'United are worse than the Viet Cong': Doctor's daughter and lawyer speaks out and reveals NO one from United has called to apologize and he has lost his teeth, has a concussion and has to undergo reconstructive surgery................The man who was bloodied and dragged from an overbooked United Airlines flight said the treatment he received at the hands of police 'storm troopers' was more horrifying than when he left Vietnam during the fall of Saigon. Attorney Thomas Demetrio launched into an attack on the airline, while defending his client during a press conference in Chicago on Thursday morning. 'Here’s...

An attorney for Dr. David Dao, the passenger at the center of the United Airlines incident, said that there will likely be a lawsuit as a result of the incident. "I think corporate America needs to understand that we all want to be treated in the same manner with the same respect and the same dignity that they would treat their own family members. If they do that, wouldn't it be great? So, will there be a lawsuit? Yeah, probably," attorney Thomas Demetrio said during a press conference on Thursday.

<p>One of the recurring themes of this blog is “how companies, particularly those used to having control over their customers adapt/not to the new world of communications, the new world of technology that empowers the individual.”</p> <p>Yes, you do know exactly where this is going.</p>

A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Shanghai, China was diverted from flying over Russian airspace for “diplomatic reasons” early Wednesday morning, passengers on the flight say. Those diplomatic concerns forced the flight to refuel at Tokyo’s Narita airport, the flight’s captain told passengers, several of whom posted about it on social media. One passenger named Andy Brown says that the airplane almost ran out of fuel before landing at Narita. [ ] It is unclear if any other flights were re-routed and whether the diversions are temporary. Flight logs tracked on the website FlightAware show that the flight...

United Airlines is reportedly compensating all customers who were on the flight in which a passenger was forcibly removed from his seat. All customers on the flight will be compensated for the cost of their tickets, CNBC reported Wednesday. JUST IN: United says all customers on flight 3411, where a man was dragged off, are receiving compensation for the cost of their tickets. — CNBC (@CNBC) April 12, 2017 Video surfaced earlier this week of security personnel violently dragging a passenger in Chicago from his seat after the man refused to give up his spot to an airline staffer. The...

Buckle up, United Airlines, because you're about to hit stormy skies. The airline has enraged the public this week for violently yanking an uncooperative passenger off an overbooked flight. Now, the company is gearing up for a legal battle that can't be fixed with a half-assed apology tweet. While United was playing the aviation blame game, the victim of Sunday's incident, Dr. David Dao, enlisted the aid of two prominent Chicago attorneys, hinting that he plans on giving the airline quite the ass kicking in court. The 69-year-old medical professional has hired corporate law specialist Stephen Golan and personal injury...

United Airlines says it will compensate the cost of tickets for every passenger on Flight 3411, where a man was forcibly removed and dragged earlier this week, according to CNBC. The news follows a second statement from United CEO Oscar Munoz, in which he said that "no one should ever be mistreated this way" — a pivot from his Monday statement. In the latter, Munoz said the passenger was "disruptive and belligerent." United has been in hot water since the video first emerged on Sunday, with outraged social media users calling for a boycott and leaving the airline 1-star ratings...

The passenger dragged from his seat aboard a Sunday night flight at O'Hare International Airport took the first step toward potential legal action against United Airlines or the city on Wednesday. David Dao, who has retained a high-powered personal injury lawyer, asked the Cook County Circuit Court for an order requiring United and the city of Chicago to keep all video, cockpit recordings and other reports from the flight, along with the personnel files of the Aviation Department officers who pulled Dao from the flight. From Our Partners: Video Shows Man Forcibly Removed From Overbooked United Flight The request was...

RUSH: So United Airlines. The CEO has now come out and apologized again and said after he watched the video he was outraged, found it reprehensible, all of that. Mr. Snerdley just walked in, and he was upset over something Governor Christie said. Governor Christie’s the governor of New Jersey, and Governor Christie has lambasted United for doing what they did simply to make money. “Come on, Governor. That’s what the liberals always say when they go out and bash a corporation. That’s not the way to bash this.” Snerdley came in; he thinks Christie was being a hypocrite because...

A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Shanghai, China was diverted from flying over Russian airspace for "diplomatic reasons" early Wednesday morning, passengers on the flight say.Those diplomatic concerns forced the flight to refuel at Tokyo's Narita airport, the flight's captain told passengers, several of whom posted about it on social media. On @United 857 enroute to PVG, diverted to NRT. Captain: Due to diplomatic reasons, Russia denied access to air space. Now refuelling-- brianlinca (@brianlinca) April 12, 2017 One passenger named Andy Brown says that the airplane almost ran out of fuel before landing at Narita. "Then they...

The adage about a picture being worth a thousand words never seemed as true as it did Monday when a video clip shot around the Internet showing a passenger being violently removed from a United Airlines plane in Chicago for refusing to be “voluntarily” bumped from the flight. United no doubt will expend thousands of words explaining or apologizing for this incident in the coming days and weeks. It won’t help. The video is just too raw. Indeed, the airline’s initial response to the publicity has left it covered in shame. United’s PR department first issued a statement explaining blandly...

Until this morning, I didn’t think anyone would displace the executive team at Pepsi as public relations chumps of the year after their hideous debacle of a commercial featuring Kendall Jenner. Then along came the geniuses at United Airlines, whose company motto, hilariously, is: “Fly the Friendly Skies”.

FULL TITLE: 'We will beat you so badly you will be using your own face as a flotation device': Jimmy Kimmel mocks United Airlines' overbooking controversy with fake ad starring a flight attendant wearing brass knuckles Jimmy Kimmel has mocked United Airlines for allowing a 69-year-old grandfather to be aggressively dragged off the plane. The talk show host blasted the airline on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Monday with a parody ad during the opening monologue. United landed in hot water after a video showed Dr Dao beaten and forcefully pulled off the overbooked flight from Chicago to Louisville. The chipper flight...

The passenger is being treated for injuries in a Chicago hotelUnited Airlines' parent company CEO Oscar Munoz on Tuesday apologized to the passenger dragged off a flight over the weekend. "Like you, I continue to be disturbed by what happened on this flight and I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard," Munoz wrote in a memo to his team. "No one should ever be mistreated this way." Brief Marriage Preceded Fatal Calif. School Shooting The passenger has been identified as Dr. David Dao, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, NBC News reported. The Associated Press also...

The United Airlines passenger dragged off a flight was a doctor who said he was trying to get home to his patients. The Louisville Courier-Journal says Dr. David Dao is a Vietnamese-American immigrant who specializes in pulmonary disease in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. On Sunday, he was one of four United Express Flight 3411 passengers "randomly selected" to be removed from an overbooked plane in Chicago bound for Louisville, 40 miles outside of Elizabethtown.