Live4Upgrade

because without the whole video of what was done/said that preceded the incident, it highly risks to bias where people assign fault.

Incomplete video is just as biased as witness testimony.

DENviaLAX

Generally, not so much. Beyond specific rest requirements and other rules from the FAA that have to be accounted for, crew also have their own union contracts that provide them with certain protections in regards to how they can be transported for work assignments. Those are legal hurdles I doubt UA can get around in the majority of circumstances.

ExplorerWannabe

The thing is, they likely have an operational, time-critical reason for transporting that crew and they are in more need of control over the passage of that crew. I've had very few problems flying on United and the last time I did, giving the counter agents this kind of flexibility would have gone a long ways toward fixing my situation and probably would have cost United much less overall.

I guess I'm in the minority but the only fault I assign United is that the case appeared to me to be Involuntary De-Boarding, not denial of boarding. Over 90% of the blame IMO goes to guy who not only said, "you'll have to drag me out" but then proceeded to resist violently when security did just that.

TravellingMan

More flowery language that means nothing. I think they should really try fixing the management's attitude and let it flow from there.

1. Stop saying "But you hardly paid anything for this ticket!". You sold the ticket and I bought it. If you dont want anyone buying a ticket at that price then stop selling it.
2. Provide adequate staffing when flights get cancelled or diverted. Why do I keep seeing long lines whenever I walk by a rebooking counter late in the evening? This reflects staffing costs as being more important than making customers wait for hours...
3. Allow for one free bag to be checked in, you will magically turn around planes faster and allow for a much civilized travel experience.
4. Stop your employees from palming off anyone who comes for help. Gate agent to rebooking counter. Rebooking counter to call the 800 number so and so forth.

Unless I see some real changes I presume this is going to be more of play on the words. I can see them pull another Delta next time they need to throw someone off. Make everyone deboard and then exclude the ones you dont want. See dont need police for that nor do you need any "volunteers".

mduell

But suddenly all those rules and restrictions evaporate when T-59m hits if the crew aren't booked?

"Ensure crews are booked onto a flight at least 60 minutes prior to departure."

Wise-Broccoli8301

I'm probably one of the less outraged people on here, but honestly I think 90% is a bit too much. The thing is it shouldn't have been a drag him out scenario to begin with, and I honestly think United should've at that point gotten creative to move him:

• Up the ante
• Call the guy out on PA and shame him and announce that they unfortunately have to pick someone else
• Just pick a larger pool to begin with and work from that list of people to get kicked off

I think any of those would've resulted in a better situation. Let's say Dao didn't get injured but had to get dragged off anyway, and let's say he did it quietly. It still would've looked bad.

I think most FTers would just comply in such a situation, but I think the responsibility lies with United more than cattle passengers.

bocastephen

We have a plane full of witnesses - at this point the video is irrelevant anyway. Also, as pointed out countless times in the various discussions regarding this attack, the fact Dr Dao may or may not have acted as a DYKWIA at any point is completely irrelevant vis a vis the assault he suffered. If you're trying to push the blame on him for this, sorry, you're totally off the wall there.

If you shoplift a toothbrush, it doesn't give the supermarket the legal right to kill you - as in the Albertsons case. If you are gaming a company policy (finding expired products to earn a reward) by actively hunting the meat cooler for expired meat, it doesn't give the supermarket the right to bring the cops to brutally assault and almost kill you - as in the Winn Dixie case. See a trend? Being a bad customer does not give a company the right to instigate assault or murder to deal with you being difficult.

STS-134

Does anyone really not believe that, had United paid for a hotel + $2000 cash, there would have been no takers? Or what about a hotel and two free iPads (which is actually worth less than $2000 cash)? Part of the problem is that they offer vouchers, which are useless to infrequent flyers. They need to write people a check, right then and there. Or give out Visa/Amex gift cards.

Clincher

10k sounds like a lot but the offers during the check in process will keep the amount low and almost always provide a volunteer.

Anyone know the highest VBD ever paid and the circumstances?

dordal

Yeah, this is the one part that really pissed me off about the report. If you read their event description they say that a passenger offered to get off for $1000, but they 'couldn't accept' because the Dao's were a couple and only one person offered. Now as I understand it, only Dr. Dao was saying he couldn't get off -- his wife had already gone willingly.

Even worse, in the letter Munoz gave to Congress, he claims United 'went up to' $1000 and there were no takers.

So here you have United telling us that somebody was offering to get off for $1K, and they were offering to pay $1K, and yet somehow that didn't work.

Kevin AA

That is trespassing. Call the real cops, slap on the handcuffs, and press charges.

FrequentUnitedFlyer

[QUOTE=MatthewLAX;28234885]Oscar promised a comprehensive review of customer service at UA and the report is now out. Effective immediately (or in the near future) United will--
To me, Oscar never specially apology for accusing a paid passenger disruptive and belligerent. As a public figure of United, he should make it clear that it was wrong for him to do so without sufficient evidence. A generic apology might make United's lawyers happy, but that ruins United's reputation deeply. In his new proposal of policy changes (a big thumb up for United), there is nothing about Oscar. It's like Oscar didn't do anything wrong at all, and it was all others' or system's fault. If Oscar thinks that it is not necessary for him to specifically apology for what he said, then it is reasonable to assume that Oscar still value profit way more than customers. Oscar can offer 1,000 more times with this generic apologies, but it will not carry the message forward. It's our feelings he hurt, not just our wallet. Higher compensation for volunteering does not mean much to me. There are things you can't buy. Oscar's apology is something that you just can't buy even if you always flew United.

NorthwestFlyer

Who thinks United Airlines will compensate a Pax anywhere close to $10K? I do not.:

zrs70

Hard to say. Passengers will certainly hold out for the highest compensation they can get. But UA will likely find space on alternative routing before shelling out 10K.

Not sure how the actually CoC wording will pan out. Is a passenger obligated to take reasonable alternative routing if offered?

Duke787

Not a chance unless the entire plane decides to collude which isn't happening. Even around the holidays, there will be someone who can't resist $1000, $1500, $2000, $2500 - can't see it going much higher than that.

Only exception is if the entire plane is headed to a major event (Super Bowl, Final Four, Inauguration, etc.) in which case this will simply force UA to pro-actively add additional capacity into/out of that event and potentially opt not to over-sell the flights going to/from those events.