We all know that there are airline employees who know and abide by the rules, and there are airline employees who embellish them and occasionally even make them up as they go along.

UA's repulsive attack on a passenger has certainly highlighted the need for the $10K IDB. But there needs to be a deeper look, from all airlines I think, at how they handle VBD leading to potential IDB. Personally I think IDB should be all but banned and everything should be handled via VDB. I think IDB should only be used in edge cases and even then, only as a method of last resort.

In general, what I'd like to see:

- untie VDB amounts from length of delay
- raise VDB limits to $2500 for a GA and $10K for a manager

To me it doesn't matter if the flight is a short 40min hop or a monotonous 15h in the metal tube. If the airline really really needs to VDB someone, then the airline should pay for it. How much they should pay depends "on market forces".