The Friendly Skies...

[gblowfish]

Just kicked some poor guys ass for refusing to give up his seat!
You never see this on the United Airlines commercials....

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w...ompting-outcry

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Cool. Gonna be fun when a CPer is on board and some douche refuses to leave the plane.

[TimBone]

Originally Posted by splatbass

I don't really care. The airline needs to handle this better. You should never pull someone who has done nothing wrong and has been seated out of his seat. This is a crappy way of doing business, no excusing it.

No other business would be able to stay in business treating customers the way the airlines treat customers.

I don't necessarily disagree with that. I was just pointing out that it's highly unlikely that the employees being late was their own fault, and therefore I disagree that they share the blame.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

It's now up to 3 aviation officers placed on leave, and Munoz has promised that, in the future, United will not call for the cops to remove passengers in these situations.

This seems like there's a small and easily understood law just waiting to be passed with bipartisan support.

Not the outcome that I necessarily want. The only officer who should be suspended should be the one who pulled and dragged the officer. Others shouldn't be suspended for enforcing what they believed was the law.

And not calling cops to take a customer off is ridiculous. No need to move to the extremes. But they need to evaluate how to go through all the options quickly (upping the compensation) and calling cops truly as a a last resort.

Also, Chris Christie is lobbying to get rid of overbooking. Again, the point should be to change the rules, not to get rid of it entirely. I understand that overbooking helps keep the prices down. But that shouldn't give airlines the license to think they can dick customers and often times put customers out of money so they can make a few extra bucks.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

I have an idea. Just leave 4 seats unbooked every flight. Let people on standby take them if no crew shows up to get on. Or build 4 more seats into the plane where the stewardess sit—something along those lines.

I was thinking too about what changes the airline should make as a result. Here were a few I thought of:
-I agree. Airlines need to use standby more. These customers buy tickets cheaper knowing they're eligible for being bumped
-Airlines will hopefully give employees more authority to negotiate compensation
-Airlines will have guidelines in place for what constitutes passing on forced rebooking. e.g. visiting a dying relative
-Airlines will hopefully rethink the "algorithm" for who gets bumped, and be very transparent about it
-Stop compensating through funny money. Force airlines to pay with real money, not "airline bucks." Airlines would rethink their overbooking if they knew real money was on the line

I was going to also include creating an upcharge for customers to opt out of forced re-accommodation due to overbooking. It's not a terrible option, but it doesn't fix the root of the problem, which is unapologetic overloading of flights.

[GloryDayz]

As it should, this one is going to hurt United it the pocketbook.

And **** over booking! If the practice is allowed to continue, the rules around it have to change. IOW, they are required to sweeten the deal until somebody volunteers. You get up into the $6000 range, 1st class accommodations while you wait, 1st class on the next flight, lifetime access to their airport lounge, and they'll adjust their algorithms. Clearly their algorithms suck, they're too often looking for volunteers.

Assholes.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

If he's lawyered up, my guess is that he'll be in the hospital until the out-of-court settlement check arrives.

Here's a recent picture of the fine doctor in his hospital bed.

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

As it should, this one is going to hurt United it the pocketbook.

And **** over booking! If the practice is allowed to continue, the rules around it have to change. IOW, they are required to sweeten the deal until somebody volunteers. You get up into the $6000 range, 1st class accommodations while you wait, 1st class on the next flight, lifetime access to their airport lounge, and they'll adjust their algorithms. Clearly their algorithms suck, they're too often looking for volunteers.

Assholes.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Airlines have been using the overbooking business model for decades and they didn't used to be as puckered up with compensation as they are today.

I remember years ago standing at the gate when they were overbooked. They would start with a bonus ticket anywhere in the United States. If no one bit, they would sweeten the pot with two domestic tickets. This would go on until someone would take the deal.

I watched one time where it ended up taking two international first class tickets to get it done. The point is, they were willing to do what it took at one point. Flying has changed a lot over the years. I really enjoyed flying years ago, now I dread it days in advance before I have to jump on a plane.

Between the pissed off airline employees, the TSA bullshit, the excessive baggage fees, and half the people boarding the plane bringing extra carry on items that are not allowed resulting in quickly filling up the overhead bins, it's a cluster.

As far as the Doc, you can bet your last dime the guy is going to see a huge payday out of this.

[unlurking]

http://thehill.com/policy/transporta...h-handcuffs-to

“That’s when they told me they needed the seat for somebody more important who came at the last minute,” Fearns told the newspaper. “They said they have a priority list and this other person was higher on the list than me.”

Like the passenger removed in the viral video from last week, Fears had already been seated on the plane.
“I understand you might bump people because a flight is full,” he said.

“But they didn’t say anything at the gate. I was already in the seat. And now they were telling me I had no choice. They said they’d put me in cuffs if they had to.”

And here I thought buying upgraded seats would keep you safe. Guess not.

[Swanman]

Originally Posted by Bwana

Airlines have been using the overbooking business model for decades and they didn't used to be as puckered up with compensation as they are today.

I remember years ago standing at the gate when they were overbooked. They would start with a bonus ticket anywhere in the United States. If no one bit, they would sweeten the pot with two domestic tickets. This would go on until someone would take the deal.

I watched one time where it ended up taking two international first class tickets to get it done. The point is, they were willing to do what it took at one point. Flying has changed a lot over the years. I really enjoyed flying years ago, now I dread it days in advance before I have to jump on a plane.

Between the pissed off airline employees, the TSA bullshit, the excessive baggage fees, and half the people boarding the plane bringing extra carry on items that are not allowed resulting in quickly filling up the overhead bins, it's a cluster.

As far as the Doc, you can bet your last dime the guy is going to see a huge payday out of this.

Back many years ago there would sometimes be a mad dash to the counter to get bumped. Free round trip tickets anywhere, cash, etc. were given out quickly. There is a reason only Southwest and Virgin America get ranked when talking about the best airlines in the world. The rest of the US airlines blow for the most part. I like Southwest because they are almost always on time and they are pleasant to deal with. I flew Virgin America once to San Francisco and it was a good experience, a helluva lot different than shit like United or American.

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by Swanman

Back many years ago there would sometimes be a mad dash to the counter to get bumped. Free round trip tickets anywhere, cash, etc. were given out quickly. There is a reason only Southwest and Virgin America get ranked when talking about the best airlines in the world. The rest of the US airlines blow for the most part. I like Southwest because they are almost always on time and they are pleasant to deal with. I flew Virgin America once to San Francisco and it was a good experience, a helluva lot different than shit like United or American.

Yep I remember that, my how things have changed.

[Reerun_KC]

What ever happened to that cow that sat there and whined her ass off?

[FloridaMan88]

United should have transported their employees that needed to get from Chicago to Louisville by ground transportation, especially if they didn't need to get to Louisville until the following day.

It is about a four hour drive from Chicago to Louisville.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

United should have transported their employees that needed to get from Chicago to Louisville by ground transportation, especially if they didn't need to get to Louisville until the following day.

It is about a four hour drive from Chicago to Louisville.

I've thought that if it was really that critical to move the crew and nobody bit, then United should have just chartered a Lear for them. By the time they reached maximum compensation for those they were asking to get off the flight, how much could the difference have been, anyway?

But naturally - Why pay for transportation when you can move them for free?

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

What ever happened to that cow that sat there and whined her ass off?

She's the real villain in all this. Man, was she annoying.

[Rooster]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

She's the real villain in all this. Man, was she annoying.

She will be suing Untied for mental pain and suffering or some shit like that.