'Volunteer' gets violently dragged off plane

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**CptJake**

Disciple of Fate wrote:
Howard A Treesong wrote:
They shouldn't be overbooking the plane. Are they hoping to sell more tickets than they have seats in the hope some cancel?

Afaik overbooking is standard practice, as in many cases not everyone will show up and this prevents empty seats which they hate. But then you get things like this in which everybody shows up and someone needs to get left behind.

In this particular case United wanted/needed 4 seats for employees they wanted/needed at the destination airport to crew another flight. Basically they bumped folks, including the guy in this story so they could transport their own folks.

But yes, overbooking is standard practice in the industry.

**CptJake**

kronk wrote:
CptJake wrote:

In this particular case United wanted/needed 4 seats for employees they wanted/needed at the destination airport to crew another flight. Basically they bumped folks, including the guy in this story so they could transport their own folks.

Oooh! That's a whole new level of BS!

Not really. Delay one flight and bump 4 folks or have to cancel at least one flight (probably more with ripple effect) due to lack of crew. I can see why they wanted to bump the 4 passengers.

Of course, the implementation may need some work in the future.

My understanding is local can only authorize up to $800 in comp, so when no one took them up instead of upping it they randomly pulled 4 names. Probably should have called regional to up the comp before getting the cops involved though.

**CptJake**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Peregrine wrote:
Rule #1 of flying: the pilot is god. God may decide for any reason that you are not welcome on the plane, and that is the end of the discussion. Fairness, how important it is that you get to your destination, none of those things matter. God has spoken, and so it shall be. If you refuse to leave you forfeit the right to complain when the police remove you.

Bollocks to that.

As a paying passenger, you're their solely to get me from A-B as agreed and paid for.

Try to force me off the flight for no reason other than 'our staff want your seat' and there's going to be issues.

Hope this airline enjoy their lawsuit.

Make sure to read the fine print on your ticket agreement before you incur your federal offense and get added to the No Fly list...

**CptJake**

Popsghostly wrote:

I don't have time to search, but has it been verified he actually is a doctor? If so, it will make United look worse.

Well, it IS TMZ but....

http://www.tmz.com/2017/04/11/united-airlines-doctor-convicted-drugs-sex/

Spoiler:

If accurate, yes he was a doctor, but probably not one you would go to.

**CptJake**

Prestor Jon wrote:
It surprises me that the UA employees didn't just pick a different random "volunteer." I understand why they had to remove people from the over booked flight but they were chosen at random so they didn't have to be those 4 people. I would think if, in response to being told by an attendant that they were selected to lose their seat, the passenger explains to the attendant that he's a doctor and needs to be at work in the hospital the next day that they'd just choose another random person instead of not giving a gak and having him dragged off the plane kicking and screaming.

I suspect if you pick one guy, and let his excuse stand, the next guy comes up with just as good of an excuse.

Allegedly one guy offered to get off for $1600 (twice the $800 offered). Taking him up on that offer would have been a darned good decision for the United folks to have made in hindsight.

**CptJake**

Disciple of Fate wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
As part of its new focus on customer relations, United is trying out new avenues to deliver quality customer service:
http://kxan.com/2017/04/14/scorpion-falls-from-overhead-bin-stings-man-on-united-flight-out-of-houston/

The scorpion things is just the hilarious cherry on top. Surprised its been made to be such a big deal that even their shares dropped. I know share prices are always based on feelings, but people still need to fly regardless...

Seeing as the couple were coming back from Mexico, I would bet the scorpion was a tag-a-long in their own carry-on bags.