Overbooking On A United Flight

[emmie]

was this the only way for them to get this chap off the flight, surely not.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39563570

[emmie]

The flight from Chicago to Louisville on Sunday evening had been overbooked.

The airline wanted to get four passengers to leave the flight to make room for four staff members.

[hereIam]

To be honest em, I thought this man's actions were hilarious, he totally overreacted ...

[Mamyalynne]

Badly handled all round.

As stated

//So what went wrong here?
It appears to have been a series of errors. A group of flight crew needed to be in Louisville, properly rested, in order to operate the next morning's plane. Had they not been able to get there, then many more passengers would have had their plans messed up. The big mistake the airline made was allowing all the fare-paying passengers on board, and then trying to entice enough people off.
It would have been far better to conduct the auction at the gate; physically preventing someone boarding is less harmful than dragging them kicking and screaming from their seat.//

[emmie]

i can see there being an inquiry to this somehow.
Mamy
i can see the sense in what you say, this could have been handled a whole lot better. The passengers were in uproar, bad enough if you are ok with flying, but if you are an uneasy flier that can cause you to go into meltdown.

[Sqad]

LOL.....he says he was a doctor.......if he was a medical one then AA haven't heard the end of this.....he will sue the pants off them.

[Peter Pedant]

The Beeb had an enjoyable day
using the advert for united airlines
" we look after your every want " interspersed with
'No ! No leave me alone
'we think of you the customer'
"hey you shouldnt be doing that!"

and altho the letter
United Airlines will reach out to mr nunoz.....

no one has yet said - He must think he has been reached out to enough ...

[emmie]

he said both he and his wife were doctors, and i can see a lawsuit heading round the bend.

[ToraToraTora]

what a balls up, this will now cost a lot more than flying their staff via private jet! This is a classic example of how thick people are.

[237SJ]

More info here http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/video-appears-to-show-passenger-being-removed-from-united-flight/

[douglas9401]

It's the American way innit. Go in hard then apologise and throw money at it.

[bednobs]

sorry but that man was an utter wang - asked to leave but he refused to. What else could they do except forcibly remove him?

[Cloverjo]

I agree it should have been sorted out before boarding. As no one volunteered to be bumped off the flight, the staff should have picked the people to leave, press cash into their hands and apologised profusely for the fact that they would not be getting on that plane.

[murraymints]

I'd be fair aggrieved if I had booked and paid been seated then turfed off....bad bad practice to overbook ....

[Baldric]

He had booked and paid for his seat, he had been put on board the plane, so why the heck should he have to give up his seat at the last minute?
The Airline knew it needed a seat for a Staff Member so why on earth fill the plane up and then expect people to leave.
Unbelievable!!!

[horseshoes]

During their student days some years ago, my sister and her now husband were waiting at Manchester airport to board a flight to NY and someone from the airline came along asking people if they'd mind taking the flight from Heathrow for a bit of compensation. Sister and husband accepted, had a couple of hundred dollars each extra to spend!

[murraymints]

fair enough if one offers for suitable compo prior to boarding, but to be physically ejected like a criminal..well not acceptable in my opinion..

[Mamyalynne]

Yes that's the correct way to do it Horseshoes, it's happened to my family members too.

[bednobs]

he criminalised himself. On the plane, what the captain says goes

[murraymints]

bit harsh though..surely a huge company like United can organise their staff on the ground better without resorting to such heavy handed action....

[Smowball]

I agree with MM- I'd have been seething if I'd booked and paid for a flight all above board and then allowed to actually take my seat only to be told to leave as we've messed up basically and we're four passengers too many!