Concerto

Agree with all of this, certainly, but somehow I don't see it happening in Europe. It hasn't quite reached that stage yet, although I think fares are even cheaper over here. Never before has it been cheaper to fly.

Indeed, and I'm very glad to be part of it. It makes me feel that, if somehow anything goes wrong in the future, there's a network of potential help out there even if in reality this probably wouldn't be the case. On the other hand, if I was to refuse to listen to crew orders then I wouldn't be able to expect things to go smoothly. I would be up for just keeping calm, getting off and sorting it all out later. But, you know, people are tired, already stressed with the security and airport experience and, who knows, maybe jetlagged. I know that when I am extremely tired I don't always react in a rational manner!

CZAMFlyer

These spoofs - some humorous, some less so - are all posted throughout the UA forum and on Twitter, which has exploded since early this morning.

Jumper Jack

Wow
The more info come out, the more pissed I get

Guy was already super nice enough to volunteer to be bumped. It was only until he was told the next flight he can take wasnt until next day at 2:30PM he told them he has patients to see in the morning.

And these animals just went ahead and did what we saw.

Pathetic human beings. UA, FA, those cops , all of them. Head better roll on this one, Oscar should resign for this embarrassment. So should the FAs or any GA crew who did not stop police from carrying out this brutal act.

Also super nice of UA to threaten all of the pax with something along the line of "we are not leaving until we get four pax off"

CZAMFlyer

I can't comment upon the legalities, but the optics are about as bad as they can be. There is no way we can assert he "brought it upon himself". No he did not. The company brought it all to him.

Jumper Jack

Nah bro, he clearly brought it upon himself because he did not hand those cops a can of pepsi.

Also I am not sure if Stranger practices law(if he does than I would most definitely defer to his opinion). At least based off the limited CAN business laws I l was taught, the pax was clearly under UA's care. UA has EVERY obligation to ensure the pax does not get treated the way that was depicted in the video. Esp since they already boarded the plane.

Not sure how different US laws can be though.. you never know with merica

Stranger

But then surely he was supposed to accept direct orders by the crew.

You seriously think you can say no if they order you out? Think again. I definitely would not even think of it.

CZAMFlyer

In this scenario, yes, I do.

This was not an issue of poor passenger behaviour or non-compliance with safety rules. This was a case of a customer who was invited onto the plane with a valid ticket, sitting in his assigned seat and declining to be the stooge who accommodated the airline's poor planning in return for the compensation they were offering.

Airline staffers, as I'm sure they will be finding out shortly, if they haven't already, are not without limitations, nor immune from accountability.

ridefar

Serious question: does a captain need a reason to remove you from a plane (at the gate)? Could he or she do it out of total caprice and still be in the right, legally speaking?

jsfrSE

This.

If the flight was overbooked, why then did they wait until passengers had boarded and were seated to ask for not 1, but 4 volunteers?

Very poor handling of this situation.

Stranger

They were not. There were asked at the last minute to take on a crew for operational reasons.

Stranger

Used to be that in open seas they could hang you on the tall mast if they would have found you guilty...

CZAMFlyer

I think any member of the airline crew would need a valid and defendable reason for such action. Capriciousness is not a trait associated with long careers in a command position.

24left

And now with video from the front of the cabin.

I am horrified.

Stranger

I doubt it matters. Especially nowadays.

As to "poor planning," who knows. There are minor details such as weather which have a habit of standing in the way. Of course there is the issue of costs vs. ability to deal with unpredictability. Which in the era of cheap tickets, has gone were?

First, it's likely the crew, not ground staffers. Accountable to their employer surely they are. But beyond that? Goes back to the first question.

At the end of the day, to me it comes across as poor judgement and possibly miscommunication.

Stranger

My guess would be: the captain told the cabin crew to bump four people ASAP. No more detail given.

The crew tried. Unsuccessfully. Called security to deal with an "unruly passenger." Security overdid it. Can you blame the captain?