Originally Posted by
tromer
1. The heat was forecast for days, and this wasn't even the first day at those temperatures. Surely at least one previous day's SNA-EWR also faced this possibility? Why weren't there more proactive VDB offers? I often get "we may need volunteers" messages on check-in for overbooked flights; why was something like that not possible here? ...
a string of suppositions and there is no chance there will be an official answers. What happened on each of these in actuality is unknown.
Originally Posted by
tromer
2. If $15k was the VDB cap, why start so high if there was a risk 10 people wouldn't be enough? People were rushing forward for $1500; I'm sure a lower number would have met similar response. ...
Many reports of $500 and $1,000 not getting a response in other situations. Much of this is crowd dynamics. Few are first movers but may due FOMO if others move. UA has much experience here and may be want a fast, ice breaking result.
Originally Posted by
tromer
3. Why not consider IDB? ...
IDB is tracked metric by DOT and can lead to bad PR / reputation loss. Zero IDB is likely a UA goal.
Originally Posted by
tromer
. I appreciate United's timely and informative status updates, but why isn't there some way to disable them while various flight options are being examined? ....
Delayed information is not generally a preferred process on FT. It can work both ways
Originally Posted by
tromer
would it not be possible to "freeze" updates while studying various options and only send out the final one?
Slippy slope on hiding info, FTers generally prefer transparency. Unfortunately others find raw, transparency difficult to deal with. Hard to have an answer that works for everyone.