SteveOh

@qukslvr619 - your black and white thinking is honking me off - what I'm hearing is "don't resist" and "just do what you're told" - What if the passenger was traveling with a teenager? Just walk away from your kid because an undertrained and short sighted UA employee told you to?

Chaos did ensue because the UA employees and aviation cops didn't think they any other option. The UA employees who thought that all passengers are impacted the same by being tossed off were undertrained and short sighted in their thinking. The cops who didn't stop to think "wait, if he is a doctor, why isn't UA just picking someone else?"

misdirected baggage

Flew UA OGG->EWR last week, connecting in SFO. As usual, I bring cookies from HI for the cabin crew. Virtually everyone working the SFO-EWR leg, including the captain, thanked me personally for bringing them. It was a pleasant enough trip and the crew was terrific.

I'm not defending the mess at ORD yesterday, but many UA staff are professional and working pretty hard. As 1k I definitely see Oscar moving things in the right direction. Now if they could only replace those 737's on the OGG-SFO route...

Share a little aloha and get some in return.

ssk1127

UA fans will scoff, but the only way to "fix" this for UA is to visibly fire everyone in the chain of command from the gate agent to the CEO who created this debacle. It's a cultural problem at the company that won't be fixed with a social media campaign.

In fact, any sort of outward-facing program, short of profusely apologizing, only highlights the contents of the CEO's internal email: they don't regret what happened, only that it ended up being recorded and shared around the world.

bo1953

To be honest, UA has NOT lost me as a client. When asked to deplane, you leave or suffer the indignities as shown.

Was it the correct approach? Not saying.

Others deplaned without incident, that passenger was special???

Great protest by the passenger, great show and support for the passenger by those who believe that passengers have all the rights and power.

Shall we overlook the proactive action UA took before hand? Lottery!

Have a safe trip all.... and may you never have a similar VDB/IVDB broadcasted...

bo1953

I have to chuckle at the last sentence, he, as I, could have used "it is Passover and I have to get home to prepare"!

What about, I Am a nurse and the hospital needs me! I have pets at home you cannot IDB me, they need me home from this flight.... ad nauseum!

I Am sure the GA would have tried to do something if it were truly a 'provable' urgency for the 'Dr.' to be on that flight.

Have a safe trip.....

KevinDTW

The news coverage I saw last night of this incident reminded me that most passengers have no idea that IDB even exists, and they are shocked to discover it.

misdirected baggage

On the other hand....UA market cap fell by about $750m on early trading today.

It would have been cheaper to buy the guy his own jet.

I think UA might revisit the ceiling on denied boarding comp.

dmurphynj

That's exactly it. Many people aren't aware this could happen. It can, and does. It's not pleasant but there are good reasons to do so.

If you absolutely HAVE TO be somewhere, you always need a Plan B. This is one of those times.

Let's say he was in Atlanta, flying Delta. And be "had to" get home. What was he going to do, force them to move the thunderclouds?

That's why you always have a Plan B. If it's That Urgent, you've got someone on standby in case you don't make it. I do this in my business, and nobody's health is relying on me at all.

NH_Clark

That is quite the joke. Otherwise, truly an idiotic move if *A even considered it. Likewise, this notion that Oscar resign.

UA should take it's time to investigate. Identify areas where policy/procedures were either not followed, or need updating/modifying, and then announce their apologies and that they are making changes to ensure that this sort of action is only used when warranted.

qukslvr619

You are hearing me say "don't resist" and "do what your told." I'm not saying that it means that I agree with what I'm being told; but I do know that failure to comply will also lead to worse consequences. If everyone is going to interpret whether rules apply differently to them, then why even have law enforcement? And no one is suggesting to walk off from your kid...but what kind of example would I be setting for my kid if I basically am saying "I don't care that someone is telling me I was selected for IDB and am being asked to leave a plane; stand your ground, grip onto the seat and resist!" This isn't Rosa Parks refusing to give up a seat, setting an example, and standing ground for unjust racial segregation.

And I fail to see how "he is a doctor" somehow changes the situation. Because the next person they pick could be military; or they pick someone else and they need to be home to care for a sick family member. Everyone has a reason as to why they need to be on that plane....not sure why one person is more special than the other.

FlyerTom111

All UA has to do is just make sure their tickets are priced competitively. People will still shop on price and convenience.

tcoat1305

Completely agree, resolving in the Gate (before boarding) would seem "better" than what is depicted in the video

KevinDTW

^

Cargojon

I am sure that LX/LH will take your request very seriously to suspend UA from the alliance and code shares.

This reminds me of when people use an incident to have a contest to see who can act the most outraged. I see it on TV all the time but didn't expect it on FT.

wanderingkev

The thing that most irritated me about the story which if true was the "mocking" of passengers by the gate agent .You cannot do when you are going to mess up 4 people's days have no idea what personal problems, logistical or financial that it will cause for the people affected.
I do not believe the guy was right to behave the way he did or the police actions, no discussion, explanation just heavy handiness.
In my view discipline, if taken should be taken at the gate and airport management level , very poor internal communications and escalation, but that is based on what I think I know.
Oscar seems like a decent guy ,although he did follow a quantum pr*ck so looking good was not probably a major challenge.I certainly don't think he should be shot over this but he needs to counseled over that internal email and he lost some of my respect over it. I think he needs more time to complete the merger and build a competitive culture.
I applaud the fact that people have made the public protests that they have,I have flown with US carriers for almost 15 years now since relocating here, one thing that surprised me about Americans was if you serve bad food in a restaurant they send it back or don't pay, not happy with a hotel room they are at the front desk, put them on a plane they tolerate any old sh*t.
A bit more reaction like this when stocks fall , corporate contracts get cut and few senior heads roll may not be a bad thing for the traveler.
I also think that there needs to much higher consequences for airlines if they choose to continue the practice, doesn't seem to happen when I book my Shinkansen, Eurostar or other rail tickets.Or any other ticket I buy.