Originally Posted by
dvlsadvc8
Amen! Whether the public wants to believe it or not, this happens with every airline, every day. I had a family member subject to same. When asked to deplane, she calmly gathered her belongings and complied.
While I do not agree with crew scheduling advancing a last minute crew on board flight 3411, the chances that they were bumping passengers to get home are highly unlikely. If UA had to inconvenience four passengers to salvage a flight of 70(+) up the line, so be it. They weighed their options for what they believed was the greater good.
The mistake wasn't in inconveniencing four passengers. The mistake was in
which four they chose to remove. As I've said many times, they should take bids from everyone on the plane for the minimum amount of money they'd be willing to get off the plane for. This is how free markets figure out who stays and who goes. Take the lowest four bids and you'll probably have people who are retired, have flexible schedules, have an extra day at their destination before they have any obligations, etc. And they'll be happy with the extra money and will get off the plane on their own two feet, without viral videos and social media PR disasters.
Hell, even if I've got a vacation and and reservations at a restaurant it's really hard to get reservations at on the first night, I'd probably be willing to get off the plane for $5000. And I'd go willingly, knowing that the $5000 would pay for all of the hotels I'm staying at for 1-2 weeks.