Originally Posted by STS-134

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.