Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
Yet, an airline employee should be aware of various international cultures. It's not so surprising that Dr. Dao felt very shamed to have been asked to leave the aircraft. A stubborn refusal to leave is not a surprising reaction.
So we're now down to feelings being a valid reason for not complying with a request to leave? Should an airline be forced to figure out how to IDB based on how embarrassed someone might be it?
To that I give a big
- and I'm pretty anti-UA since CO came into the picture.
I'm not saying UA IDBing people after boarding isn't crappy, but shame isn't a valid reason for noncompliance. Getting deboarded certainly sucks, but it's not like he was alone, nor would he have been ridiculed if he got up and left. Inconvenienced and deserving of compensation? You bet. Pissed at UA? For sure.
There's also the fact that the plane is private property, and not complying with a request to leave can be considered trespassing. Whether or not the request is justified is moot at that point - especially when LEOs get involved. At that point, you lose that round - you're not law abiding. On a plane, you're best bet is to get off and fight it out with the GA, Twitter, customer service, etc over compensation and accommodation. Whether voluntarily or forcefully removed, you're not going to be on that flight. Period.
That said, if I were IDB'ed, it'd make my day under most circumstances. The one time UA IDB'ed me in FRA, it worked out very well for me.
Originally Posted by rickg523
Last flight on Sunday night. Next flight Monday afternoon.
They expected 800 bucks of vouchers to get people to call in.
"Sorry boss. United had 4 guys that needed to be at work tomorrow and they offered me some money and a hotel room, so I decided I don't need to be there. See you tomorrow." That's what they had in mind?
And another
here.
There's a big difference between taking a voluntary bump and no-showing for work vs. being IDB'ed. Few employers would put up with the former, but with the latter, what are they going to do? If the airline doesn't let you fly, it doesn't let you fly. The best I can do at that point is to do due diligence in finding another way there, if available, or we all roll with the delay. It's just like any weather or mechanical delay. It's travel. It happens. It's happened to all of us at some point. It sucks, but it's the nature of the beast.
If an employer fired me for not getting there because the airline IDB'ed me? I'd question why I even worked for them to begin with.
There's plenty of blame to go around in this situation, and it's really unfortunate it came out the way it did. You have a perfect storm of bad corporate practices, an entitled culture, overzealous police, and social media witch hunts.
I don't think anyone really wins here. Even when he gets his payday, I'm sure Dr. Dao would rather have just gotten to his destination rather than needing surgery and dentures.