BigSqwert Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 (edited) Looks like United really screwed up. They could have paid for their 4 flight crew members to take a limo to Louisville instead of what they'll be paying out in this lawsuit. Link to story EDIT: Post title got snipped. Not sure how to edit that. Edited April 10, 2017 by BigSqwert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Seems like there has to be more to it. Seems odd they would drag a volunteer off the flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 That guy wasn't a volunteer. He is a doctor who stated that he needed to get back to take care of his patients. The problem is that they needed 4 people to give up seats and only one person did. Their "computer" chose random people to be removed with this guy being one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 (edited) QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 10, 2017 -> 10:21 AM) Seems like there has to be more to it. Seems odd they would drag a volunteer off the flight. He didn't volunteer, he was chosen randomly. United's PR team did a horrible job drafting their statement. And obviously United's management team at the airport did a horrible job dealing with this situation. It really should be illegal for airlines to overbook flights, but every airline does it. You would think for the money they have to shell out as compensation for those "volunteers," they would be better off just not overbooking the flight to begin with. Edited April 10, 2017 by JenksIsMyHero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 If they were overbooked, why even board the plane? It's a lot harder to get 4 people to volunteer once they're seated on the plane. Completely botched all the way around, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 And how far is Louisville? Couldn't their 4 employees get driven there in roughly the same amount of time, maybe a bit longer? Or why not have them fly on another airline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 10, 2017 -> 10:25 AM) If they were overbooked, why even board the plane? It's a lot harder to get 4 people to volunteer once they're seated on the plane. Completely botched all the way around, I've been in that situation a few times. On the plane, ready to go and suddenly they look for volunteers. My guess is at the last minute they find out they need crew members at another airport and they realize that specific flight is the fastest route to get there. My wife and I debated taking the offer once. It would have required an overnight stay in Houston, but they were offering 2 free flights anywhere in the lower 48 (for each of us). I was too worried there would be all sorts of restrictions attached, like black out dates or whatever, so we decided against it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Apr 10, 2017 -> 10:28 AM) I've been in that situation a few times. On the plane, ready to go and suddenly they look for volunteers. My guess is at the last minute they find out they need crew members at another airport and they realize that specific flight is the fastest route to get there. My wife and I debated taking the offer once. It would have required an overnight stay in Houston, but they were offering 2 free flights anywhere in the lower 48 (for each of us). I was too worried there would be all sorts of restrictions attached, like black out dates or whatever, so we decided against it. I've taken it numerous times with SWA and they always do it pre-flight and you get a nice voucher and a priority seating position on the next flight. What is show here is f***ing crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Wasn't this a Sunday night flight? Probably a lot harder to find volunteers when people need to get back home to get to work/school for Monday. They could have also kept increasing the voucher amount until they got 4 volunteers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Here's another video of the assault. Imagine if this was your dad who was randomly picked to leave the plane. How would you react? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 10, 2017 -> 10:38 AM) Here's another video of the assault. Imagine if this was your dad who was randomly picked to leave the plane. How would you react? I'd be furious. I already despise United due to their business practices, but these police should have handled this differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettie4sox Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 I think I would be getting shot that day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettie4sox Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 United sucks. I don't know why anyone would fly with the big 3. They are absolutely garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illinilaw08 Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 10, 2017 -> 09:33 AM) Wasn't this a Sunday night flight? Probably a lot harder to find volunteers when people need to get back home to get to work/school for Monday. They could have also kept increasing the voucher amount until they got 4 volunteers. This. My parents have taken the vouchers before, but they are retired. My wife and I have talked about jumping at the offers before, but the deal needs to be really, really good to rationalize missing another day of work from a Sunday flight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 QUOTE (Tony @ Apr 10, 2017 -> 11:03 AM) It's all about status at this point (which isn't right). I traveled 25 weeks a year on American for about 4 years. I never had any issues, always had a window in the front of the plane, and about 65% of the time would get an upgrade to first class. But that's all because I was flying all the time. You don't have status, and the expierence is trash. United is definitely the worst, even their status programs have turned to trash. They tried to charge me a 200 dollar transfer fee to transfer $150 worth of credit to a ticket. They can suck it. I'm SWA and Delta only now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 10, 2017 -> 11:06 AM) United is definitely the worst, even their status programs have turned to trash. They tried to charge me a 200 dollar transfer fee to transfer $150 worth of credit to a ticket. They can suck it. I'm SWA and Delta only now. Yeah, none of the big network airlines are exactly great, but United is special-level bad even among that crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 United and Delta are trash. Southwest is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 10, 2017 -> 11:37 AM) United and Delta are trash. Southwest is the best. SWA certainly has status perks, but its not as crazy as others, and also not as much in your face. For example you arent aware of the reason I am in front of you in line, for all you know I checked in before you did. I like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Wow, what a disaster. Someone is getting fired for thinking this is a good idea. No matter what they had to offer to get people off of this flight, it was worth less than the PR disaster they are watching all over media and social media today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettie4sox Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 SWA has the most friendly domestic experience. Sure they are corporation but you don't see all the greedy additional fees the other airlines try to push on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasox24 Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 That was absolutely absurd. In all my years of flying, I've never seen anything like that. Regarding general airline conversation: Living in Atlanta, I only fly Delta. That's a combination of having status, and the fact that I can fly anywhere non-stop + fares are generally good price. Once I lose status, I'll go back to flying Southwest or Delta - whichever is cheaper. I always liked SW a lot. But I've never heard a good thing about United, which is sad. How does such a major airline have such issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 United is going to put this all on the chicago police. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Whatever happened to just increasing the amount of the travel voucher until you had enough volunteers? My wife and I bailed on coming home for a day once for $1,000 each on American. Of course it cost a little bit for the extra day, but it was well worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 There's probably something in the contract language when you're buying your ticket stating that they can select you to be removed at random for an overbooked flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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