No, he’s no saint, and that’s irrelevant. It’s like randomly picking 1 of 10 people to be shot.
Once again, the airlines ignore the old maxim of business, “the customer is always right.” To the airlines, the customer is never right. One of the flight crew should have been taken off, driven, or flown by charter/private plane.
There is no need to overbook. You’ve already PAID for the ticket. If you don’t show up, airline still makes money.
This doesn’t even seem like overbooking. They bumped him so they could use the seat for their own crew. Someone said Chicago to Louisville was a 4 hour drive. The crew could have easily rented a car to get there, or United could have raised their offer until they got enough volunteers. One of the passengers said they stopped at $800.
Drudge had a headline that this happened 40,000 times last year. It isn’t as rare as people think. The only reason this one made the news was because he didn’t cooperate.
It shouldn’t be random, it should be based on time checked-in. The last people to check-in should be the ones to be removed.
It would provide incentive for people to check-in earlier.