Updated in #1: United Airlines flight Oversold (?) in Chicago - Violent removal of passenger

[meena]

:iagree: Many airlines regularly offer more as it stands now anyway.  Oscar Munoz makes 6.7 million dollars a year.  Maybe he could back off on his luxury lifestyle a teeny tiny bit.  But I won't hold my breath on that.

 

 

Ha! When airlines cut costs, it's not the upper management who take salary cuts. If that was indeed a regional flight, as indicated by a previous poster, that indicates what airlines do to cut costs. A first year first officer (co-pilot) for Republic makes $36,000 a year to fly a multimillion dollar machine with up to ~117 passengers. After 5 years that same first officer will barely make over $40K.

[Murphy101]

And it is my right to tell the airline staff they are a pack of festering ***holes for not managing their process better.

Yep. Civil disobedience has a valid purpose. And even if the old man had been cussing while doing it, it still doesn't justify physically abusing him.

[meena]

And it is my right to tell the airline staff they are a pack of festering ***holes for not managing their process better.

 

And if you do this while on an airplane, you'll find yourself deplaned and probably arrested very quickly.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

Based on what I've read, many people are calling involuntary bumping fraud. But if it is legal and a person agrees to enter into a contract (buying a ticket) knowing that it's a possibility, how can it be fraud? That's was more what I was getting at. I think that it's like any other kind of agreement--many people don't read or are aware of the fine print because most of the time it doesn't apply to them. When it does apply they raise hell and argue about fraud and how their rights are being trampled.

 

I'm appalled at how the airport security handled this. Once they realized they could not get the passenger off without using unreasonable force, they should have had United deplane everyone and proceed from there.

Legal /= right. And lol if you think the DOT rules were written by anyone other than the airlines/their lobbyists.

[Murphy101]

Ha! When airlines cut costs, it's not the upper management who take salary cuts. If that was indeed a regional flight, as indicated by a previous poster, that indicates what airlines do to cut costs. A first year first officer (co-pilot) for Republic makes $36,000 a year to fly a multimillion dollar machine with up to ~117 passengers. After 5 years that same first officer will barely make over $40K.

Yes. There's no money in piloting these days. My son loves flying but he hopes to never fly for a major commercial airline. They treat their pilots like crap and the pay sucks compared to how expensive becoming a pilot is. There's a reasons there's a pilot shortage. Any pilot who can leaves commercial piloting asap for other options.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

And if you do this while on an airplane, you'll find yourself deplaned and probably arrested very quickly.

Deplaned? Yes.

Arrested? Maybe. I will win the civil suit. The airlines pull a lot of BS at the airport that doesn't fly in court.

[TechWife]

Most likely your husband was riding with commuters. They regularly are on the same flights because they always have the same start (home city-->base city) or end (base city-->home city). Commuters usually fly in uniform, so it's hard to distinguish whether they are commuting or deadheading.

 

I mean the flight crew members working the flight were the same people, not flight crew flying as passengers. I don't think he takes note of the crew members who are passengers. 

[Murphy101]

Deplaned? Yes.

Arrested? Maybe. I will win the civil suit. The airlines pull a lot of BS at the airport that doesn't fly in court.

And they get away with it at the airport bc everyone else just stands there with their damn camera saying how that sucks but don't actually do anything like demand for the stupid airport to stop being jerks and idiots.

[OneStepAtATime]

 I guess my bottom line with this is that whether it is legal or not, whether it was a regional company instead of United proper or not, whether it was imperative that the crew they were trying to get to the next destination had no other way of getting where they needed to go or not,  whether the man cursed when he was told he had to leave the plane or not (and I have seen no video evidence that he did), the airline had other means to keep trying before resorting to strong arm tactics and they didn't bother.  

 

I feel pretty strongly that when I purchase my ticket I should not have to be worrying when I board my flight that if a flight is overbooked I may end up being forcibly removed including being violently ripped from my seat and my head slammed hard enough to cause bleeding even though I have not in any way threatened anyone just so someone who works for the airline can get a seat.  I am not in a lottery for the Hunger Games or playing some sort of weird Russian roulette when I purchase my airline ticket.  I am paying for a seat on a plane to get from one location to another.  If I am peacefully sitting in my paid for seat I should have a reasonable expectation that my flight to my destination will not involve violence on the part of anyone connected with the airline I am booking passage with, even if the airline overbooks my flight.

 

Keep offering incentives until someone else volunteers.  Eventually, usually someone will.  In this case they definitely stopped way too soon (upping the incentives).  It is irrelevant to me if they had the legal right to forcibly remove a non-violent passenger.  As mentioned up thread, what is legal and what is right are not necessarily the same.  In this case they were two very different things.  What is wrong here is that the airline did not try hard enough to resolve THEIR issue through non-confrontational means before resorting to strong arm tactics.

 

 

[meena]

Deplaned? Yes.

Arrested? Maybe. I will win the civil suit. The airlines pull a lot of BS at the airport that doesn't fly in court.

 

If you verbally assault a flight crew? How is it advisable to call them festering a-holes, get them upset and stressed out over company policy that they don't write but have to follow, only for them to turn around and have to still run the flight and keep everyone safe? There's a reason why that type of behavior has a zero-tolerance policy. 

 

Editing to say: I'm not at all implying the man in this situation said that, just in case that wasn't clear.

Edited April 11, 2017 by meena

[Corraleno]

So I just saw this on Twitter.  It's a photo of a letter the CEO of United sent to it's employees today explaining the situation in his words

https://twitter.com/jonostrower/status/851582817217761280

 

Anyway, it details that the flight was fully boarded when gate agents were approached by crew that needed to board.  In point 2, it says he was told apologetically he was being denied boarding.  That doesn't even make sense.  He was on the plane and had a seat.  Do they actually use those words when approaching a passenger on the plane?

 

Sorry, this is 100% on the airline.  With a fully loaded plane, this is where you need to pull out the big moolah and incentives until you get your willing volunteers and you should have gate agents researching other options while those negotiations are going down.  It's different if you're not boarded and you hit a ceiling of incentives or just don't allow check in by the last few or what ever.  Pulling a paid customer out of a seat who only became belligerent after you were an a$$ to him does not justify forced removal and in this case assault.  The more I think about this, the more disgusted I am. 

 

That letter is terrible — they just keep making this worse and worse. 

 

Several people commented on a website that deals with travel issues that "denial of boarding" (aka getting bumped) is not the same thing as "refusal of transport," and that different rules apply. In other words, the airline did NOT have the legal right to remove him once he was boarded:

 

This was not a denied boarding. It was a refusal of transport. After a passenger have been allowed to board the airline can remove them for a limited number of reasons, including a government order such as placing a TSA marshall on the plane. Accommodating their own staff is not one of those reasons.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

And they get away with it at the airport bc everyone else just stands there with their damn camera saying how that sucks but don't actually do anything like demand for the stupid airport to stop being jerks and idiots.

Filming it is the best thing they can do. Best evidence there is to put in front of a jury.

[Frances]

Oh I guess I will tell you about what United did to our Dd. Seven months pregnant they screwed up similarly and over sold, big delay at the gate so took of late, and got in to O Hare which is huge and a pain in the butt to navigate, only 30 minutes before her connecting flight. They refused to hold their other flight for her, refused to get a cart down there to take her to her gate. 7 months pregnant they made her run, and two employees of theirs made fun of her "Look at her waddle-run" as she went by.

 

She made it and boarded, then they screwed up the meals, didn't have enough to go around, and though they had first class meals available, refused to give anything but beverages - not even pretzels or peanuts - to the passengers who did not get their meal which included Dd.

 

On the return flight, they again screwed up with overlooking, took an hour to sort it out, leaving her stranded at 11 pm in O Hare and refused to give her hotel and food vouchers. She had to pay to stay out of her own pocket, eat on her own dime over their own incompetence. They had loaded all the passengers' luggage and refused to unload it so everyone was stranded without their bags. They put everyone on delta flights the next day, but sent the plane with their luggage to another airport so everyone waited several days for their bags to be shipped home.

 

She did a detailed letter of complaint for which she received a basically shove it where the sun doesn't shine response!

 

The Delta crew was wonderful, and their airline offered perks/points etc.to the United passengers. We have only flown Delta or American domestically since. I make it a life goal to tell as many people as possible not to fly with United.

 

Oh and since her maternity clothes were all tied up with United for several days of lost luggage, Delta told her to go spend $300.00 on clothes to tide her over, and send them the receipts because they would reimburse her, and recover from United! She did exactly that and had the check back within ten days of submitting the form and attaching scans of the receipts. Good job Delta. $@#!_:;$@+#?$@ United!

We've also experienced great customer service several times with Delta when flying for funerals and to see sick family members and dealing with bad weather and schedule changes. They've done everything possible to get us to our destination on time with no extra fees and very friendly, helpful staff.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

If you verbally assault a flight crew? How is it advisable to call them festering a-holes, get them upset and stressed out over company policy that they don't write but have to follow, only for them to turn around and have to still run the flight and keep everyone safe? There's a reason why that type of behavior has a zero-tolerance policy.

 

Editing to say: I'm not at all implying the man in this situation said that, just in case that wasn't clear.

That isn't verbal assault per the legal definition. Flight crews could eject someone for those words, but if you are being deplaned anyway that wouldn't matter. Flight crews and pilots (and also the police) like to believe they have special protections from profanity/insults but they really don't.

[OneStepAtATime]

That letter is terrible — they just keep making this worse and worse. 

 

Several people commented on a website that deals with travel issues that "denial of boarding" (aka getting bumped) is not the same thing as "refusal of transport," and that different rules apply. In other words, the airline did NOT have the legal right to remove him once he was boarded:

 

Very interesting.  If true then the whole situation is even less excusable.  Are employees not taught these rules?

[SKL]

Do y'all feel the linked videos support this description? Of course I realize videos can be misleading, but I'm wondering how this report will be received.

 

The videos don't show what happened before they started trying to carry him out, so I don't know.  I think that the statement does pretty well describe what happened after they started trying to carry him out.

 

I wonder why there aren't any videos of the guy explaining why he didn't want to give up his seat, before the physical force started.  The police report makes it sound like he was yelling and being obnoxious before the cops touched him.

[meena]

That isn't verbal assault per the legal definition. Flight crews could eject someone for those words, but if you are being deplaned anyway that wouldn't matter. Flight crews and pilots (and also the police) like to believe they have special protections from profanity/insults but they really don't.

 

Well, I guess if a person can keep it to name-calling and not resort to threats, that person could avoid arrest. Flight crew maybe don't legally have special protection from verbal attacks, but as is the theme of this thread, just because it's legal doesn't make it right or advisable.

Edited April 11, 2017 by meena

[TechWife]

That isn't verbal assault per the legal definition. Flight crews could eject someone for those words, but if you are being deplaned anyway that wouldn't matter. Flight crews and pilots (and also the police) like to believe they have special protections from profanity/insults but they really don't.

 

If they perceive the insults as threats, then yes, they can legitimately refuse to let someone fly. Someone not following the instructions of the flight attendants (to deplane, in this case) is threatening behavior and they can have the person removed. 

[ChocolateReignRemix]

If they perceive the insults as threats, then yes, they can legitimately refuse to let someone fly. Someone not following the instructions of the flight attendants (to deplane, in this case) is threatening behavior and they can have the person removed.

I addressed that above. Being called something you don't like /= a threat.

 

I once witnessed a flight attendant flat out lie to get an irritated, but not even remotely abusive, passenger ejected. While the pilot and the cop who came on board had no interest in getting the real story from those who witnessed the incident, one passenger did get a video of what happened and I gave my card to the passenger being ejected when the flight attendant went forward to get the pilot. I am not sure if the flight attendant was disciplined for her conduct, but I do know the passenger did get a settlement/compensation from the airline.

Edited April 11, 2017 by ChocolateReignRemix

[gardenmom5]

Oh for bleep sake. That's just all kinds of extra stupid that darwins theory should have weeded out by now.

 

well, life-saving measures just get more and more successful - of course some will escape darwin.

 

 

As I understand it, it is somewhat routine for airline staff to live in a different city than their "home base" departure city.  They commute by flying 'deadhead' on regular flights from their city to their home base.  

 

 

I have a friend who was a F/A and based out of SF.  (pretty sure she flew internationally)  she lives in the seattle area.  so, when she was "on", she'd fly down the day before and stay with a relative.

we have another acquaintance who also flew international - but he was based out of sea-tac.

 

I see it as a case of civil disobedience. He was protesting the policy and making a statement. The shocking violence in the video against an elderly man who was just trying to sit is what will create public outrage (it has already) and hopefully get the laws/policies changed so this doesn't happen again. 

 

He may have known full well that he would or could be arrested but on principle decided to take the hit. I say good for him! Airlines have been treating customers terribly for years and for some reason the airline business has the power of police and federal law behind them which allows them to do whatever the heck they want. It's time for them to get some of that power checked. 

 

the reports are he felt he was being discriminated against because he's chinese.   they supposedly did random based upon what time you checked-in/paid for your ticket/etc.

Edited April 11, 2017 by gardenmom5

[hopskipjump]

well, life-saving measures just get more and more successful - of course some will escape darwin.

 

 

I have a friend who was a F/A and based out of SF.  (pretty sure she flew internationally)  she lives in the seattle area.  so, when she was "on", she'd fly down the day before and stay with a relative.

we have another acquaintance who also flew international - but he was based out of sea-tac.

 

 

the reports are he felt he was being discriminated against because he's chinese.   they supposedly did random based upon what time you checked-in/paid for your ticket/etc.

 

This is what I'm also reading - BUT they also said that a couple was asked to leave before he was asked to leave. The report said they were disgruntled, but got up and left the plane, accepting the vouchers offered. They were, supposedly, in the aisle and middle seats of that same row. He was simply the last guy in that row.

 

His wife was on the plane with him (wasn't she?? I'd swear I read that - but she was seated further back in the plane). I would assume they checked in and paid for tickets at the same time.

 

I doubt United's claim of it being a 'random based upon anything logical" if the above two facts turn out to be true.

 

I can't read online articles' comments. The comments about that man are making me question bringing children into this world. Nasty people are boldly making fun of this man. I'm growing further dismayed about humanity.

 

Then my cousin posted a video of a tall, skinny (probably inebriated) young woman being violently slammed face-first to the a concrete floor/ground by a policeman. And the (assumed drunk) guy recording the video is just laughing uproariously and shouting "Hey!!! I got that on video!!" My cousin found it hilarious. :sad:

 

I'm just disgusted at the outside world right now. The urge to cocoon with my inner circle and ignore the outer world is battling ferociously with the urge to go out and stir up some positive action in a much larger way than I make time to do right now.

[mathnerd]

 I guess my bottom line with this is that whether it is legal or not, whether it was a regional company instead of United proper or not, whether it was imperative that the crew they were trying to get to the next destination had no other way of getting where they needed to go or not,  whether the man cursed when he was told he had to leave the plane or not (and I have seen no video evidence that he did), the airline had other means to keep trying before resorting to strong arm tactics and they didn't bother.  

 

I feel pretty strongly that when I purchase my ticket I should not have to be worrying when I board my flight that if a flight is overbooked I may end up being forcibly removed including being violently ripped from my seat and my head slammed hard enough to cause bleeding even though I have not in any way threatened anyone just so someone who works for the airline can get a seat.  I am not in a lottery for the Hunger Games or playing some sort of weird Russian roulette when I purchase my airline ticket.  I am paying for a seat on a plane to get from one location to another.  If I am peacefully sitting in my paid for seat I should have a reasonable expectation that my flight to my destination will not involve violence on the part of anyone connected with the airline I am booking passage with, even if the airline overbooks my flight.

 

Keep offering incentives until someone else volunteers.  Eventually, usually someone will.  In this case they definitely stopped way too soon (upping the incentives).  It is irrelevant to me if they had the legal right to forcibly remove a non-violent passenger.  As mentioned up thread, what is legal and what is right are not necessarily the same.  In this case they were two very different things.  What is wrong here is that the airline did not try hard enough to resolve THEIR issue through non-confrontational means before resorting to strong arm tactics.

 

I agree with everything you said so eloquently.

Isn't United a publicly traded company? They (their CEO, presumably) owe their shareholders an answer when they are seen as a company who hurts passengers (bleeding in the face, in this case) when the passenger did not provoke anyone. Their policies and actions led to the assault of this passenger. I am glad that there are smartphones and twitter which makes this type of violence public. He paid of his seat and he has the right to say that he wants to go home (which are the words attributed to him). I would refuse in his position too. $1000 in vouchers will not make up for the hassle in missed flights.

[kroe1]

I work in an ER. I get verbally abused every day of my life. No one comes to the rescue. No one has to drag the cursing, intoxicated patient violently down the hall. We are overbooked every day because of the volume of patients who now go to the ER. We survive quite well.

[Carrie12345]

The idea is that if you have a 200 seat plane, the airlines sell 210 (more or less) seats on that flight, assuming that 10 people with miss the flight, so you can sell more seats than you actually have capacity for.  In the (hopefully rare) case where all 210 show up, then you need to pay them extra not to fly, but the goal is for that to be rare, so you come out ahead in the usual case.  

 

It isn't that money is lost, per se, but that empty seats represent extra tickets that could have been sold, even if that means selling the same seat twice.

 

Personally, I think this should be illegal.  If I buy a non-refundable ticket that can't be reused if, say, I oversleep and miss my flight, my reservation should be a reservation.

 

 

I find it interesting that so many people (not necessarily here, but in general) aren't aware that overbooking and involuntarily bumping passengers off of flights is federally allowed by the DOT. When you buy a ticket you are not 100% guaranteed the flight you have purchased. https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights

 

I did not know this.  I mean, I've heard of overbooking, but I suppose I just assumed it was some sort of error, what with all of the different ways tickets are sold. I never gave it a lot of thought.

 

Now that I'm more aware, I'll be looking at travel options more carefully.  We've never flown as a family, but I fly now and then to visit my parents, because it's cheaper to fly when it's just me.  We usually check for deals before driving with everyone, but the timing hasn't worked out yet.  I don't think there will ever be a low enough price now, knowing our money doesn't guarantee all 7 of us seats!

 

Dh flies frequently for work, though he prefers to drive when he can get away with it.  He's been tempted to give up his seat for perks, but his bosses would kill him if he missed a meeting. Everyone freaks out as it is if there's a delay that's out of his hands, and he doesn't even book the flights!  (Of course, his delays usually only happen on return flights, because life.)

 

It does chap my hide to know people have to pay extra if they want insurance for possibly missing a flight that probably sold more seats than they had, anyway.  

[Lanny]

IMO Oscar Munoz should resign and use his Golden Parachute. If not, the United  Board of Directors should fire him and the goons in Chicago. The passenger is apparently 69 years old. The passenger was apparently unconscious, when dragged down the aisle of that aircraft in Chicago Sunday night.  The statement Oscar Munoz the United CEO issued is a lot of hot air and does not address what happened in Chicago.  That was a United Express flight. It would be interesting to know whether the Gate Agent(s) worked for United Express or for United. I hope United will suffer. I hope the people involved will lose their jobs.  There were a variety of ways this could have been handled without harming a 69 year old passenger. They could have sent the 4 employees to Louisville in a Charter Jet (Lear Jet, etc.) for far less money than this is going to cost them.  

[umsami]

United was already on my s-list for how they treat Muslim passengers.  

 

http://fortune.com/2017/04/10/united-airlines-customer-service/

 

This is inexcusable and obviously the CEO did not consult a crisis PR team before making his tone-deaf statement.  I would not be surprised if the Board ousts him as well.

 

Relative has worked for Continental for years.  She has nothing good to say about United since the merger.

[umsami]

And a little humor...

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/64n4gv/southwest_airlines_new_slogan/

[OneStepAtATime]

And a little humor...

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/64n4gv/southwest_airlines_new_slogan/

I will always puffy heart love Southwest.  When I was young and getting ready to be married I had need to get to another city several times in a relatively short time frame (6 month period) to get ready for the wedding and take care of some important business stuff and I really had little money to do it.  Driving was physically doable but it was several hours both ways and a lot of wear and tear and gas for my poor old car.  Then Southwest offered a special $29 round trip airfare from the town I was living in to the city I needed to get to.  I bought as many tickets as I could.  They saved my bacon.  And I didn't have kids so I didn't care about the cattle mentality.  Stick me anywhere you like.  I'm just happy to have an extremely affordable seat.  :)  

[umsami]

Guy was not lying.  He's a doctor.  So is his wife.  So are four out of five of his kids.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4401444/Name-man-hauled-United-flight-Chicago-revealed.html?ITO=applenews

 

 

[AmandaVT]

United's stock is down this morning - over $500 million.....would have been a lot cheaper just to offer larger vouchers. 

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uniteds-stock-is-set-to-fall-5-and-wipe-1-billion-off-the-airlines-market-cap-2017-04-11

[JoJosMom]

Well, may I be the first person to say, "God bless United Airlines and God bless CEO Munoz"?

 

In these turbulent (snort) times when America has been so deeply divided-in a way not seen since the Civil War- United Airlines has stepped into the breach and powerfully united (heh, heh) our Nation.  Although there may be some minor quibbling over whether their actions were technically legal, it appears that we all can agree on one powerful statement:  United stinks.

 

United stockholders must be so very, very proud. :glare:

 

 

[justasque]

This article says "Last year, United forced 3,765 people off oversold flights and another 62,895 United passengers volunteered to give up their seats, probably in exchange for travel vouchers. That's out of more than 86 million people who boarded a United flight in 2016, according to government figures. United ranks in the middle of U.S. carriers when it comes to bumping passengers."
 
So forcing people off of flights rather than upping the bump offer is presumably part of their policy.  That, I think, is the piece that should be changed based on United's experience.  I wonder how they decide on the max offer before forcible bumping, and how different airlines' max offer affects their force-bump rate.

[Scarlett]

I can think of dozens of reasons, all of which are very common. But here's a few.

 

1. Many people might not fly again anytime soon to make it worth it. I for one, despise flying these days and avoid it if at all possible. So if I'm on a plane, the LAST thing to incentivize me is the thought of getting on another one.

 

2. Many people only fly when they have to, so if they are on that flight it is because they HAVE to get where they are going by a determined time nit of their own choosing. Such as job interviews, funerals, and so forth.

 

 

Or you have your husband and 2 teen  boys with you on a flight to the first vacation in 6 years.

[gingersmom]

More on the doctor-

 

http://www.tmz.com/2017/04/11/united-airlines-doctor-convicted-drugs-sex/

 

http://www.tmz.com/2017/04/11/united-airlines-doctor-david-dao-poker-player/

Edited April 11, 2017 by gingersmom

[Ravin]

Do y'all feel the linked videos support this description? Of course I realize videos can be misleading, but I'm wondering how this report will be received.

This looks like typical police report language accounting for what's in the videos.

[Jen500]

I don't really care WHO the guy is...doctor, poker player, whatever. It's how he was mistreated is what I find SO SO wrong.

[Joker]

More on the doctor-

 

http://www.tmz.com/2017/04/11/united-airlines-doctor-convicted-drugs-sex/

 

http://www.tmz.com/2017/04/11/united-airlines-doctor-david-dao-poker-player/

 

 

This has absolutely zero to do with what United did to him. It doesn't change my opinion at all. 

[SKL]

Interesting info on the doctor's past.  It might be relevant to the allegations that he was acting erratically and way out of proportion to the situation (before he was physically hurt).

[Jean in Newcastle]

Our local news had a lawyer discussing how United was at best skirting some laws in what they did and at worst, broke some . Ad hominem attacks on the victim are irrelevant.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OneStepAtATime]

This has absolutely zero to do with what United did to him. It doesn't change my opinion at all. 

Same here.  He could be a multiple times convicted axe murderer.  I don't care.  At the time of the incident this man was not wanted by the law, was apparently not threatening anyone, was apparently not being violent or disruptive, he was simply sitting in his seat as a law abiding passenger who had paid for an airline ticket.  He had already been allowed to board the plane and should have had a reasonable expectation of getting to his intended destination without injury from people associated with the airline he was flying on.  Things went sideways because United decided strong arm tactics are preferable to trying to offer better incentives for people to give up their seats when United found itself in a bind.  

 

ETA:  As for his behaving erratically before they hauled him off, I have not seen any video proof of that and as far as I can tell most passengers have not reported that.  Most said he was explaining that he had patients to see the next morning and could not wait for the flight leaving the next afternoon.  When he tried to get back on the plane he seemed altered and many have attested to that but the man had been assaulted, possibly knocked unconscious and frankly I would have been altered too under those circumstances.

Edited April 11, 2017 by OneStepAtATime

[gingersmom]

I don't really care WHO the guy is...doctor, poker player, whatever. It's how he was mistreated is what I find SO SO wrong.

I just found it interesting :)

Edited April 11, 2017 by gingersmom

[Jen500]

I just found it interesting :)

Oh, I wasn't really thinking that you in particular were 'attacking the victim', just knowing that other people surely would.

[gingersmom]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jimmy-kimmel-united-commercial_us_58ec7654e4b0df7e2044b81e

 

This is funny!

Edited April 11, 2017 by gingersmom

[creekland]

More on the doctor-

 

http://www.tmz.com/2017/04/11/united-airlines-doctor-convicted-drugs-sex/

 

http://www.tmz.com/2017/04/11/united-airlines-doctor-david-dao-poker-player/

 

I don't get why it's interesting TBH.  It seems a bit more like trying to say he deserved it somehow because of his past.  Do all of us now need to prove we are perfectly upright citizens in order to be guaranteed a flight we've paid for.  If we're not, then it's ok to drag us out if we object?

 

I will always puffy heart love Southwest.  When I was young and getting ready to be married I had need to get to another city several times in a relatively short time frame (6 month period) to get ready for the wedding and take care of some important business stuff and I really had little money to do it.  Driving was physically doable but it was several hours both ways and a lot of wear and tear and gas for my poor old car.  Then Southwest offered a special $29 round trip airfare from the town I was living in to the city I needed to get to.  I bought as many tickets as I could.  They saved my bacon.  And I didn't have kids so I didn't care about the cattle mentality.  Stick me anywhere you like.  I'm just happy to have an extremely affordable seat.   :)

 

I love Southwest too.  We also started with them because their flights are less expensive.  Now we pick them as our first choice even if they're more expensive.  We've designed whole trips over "Hmm, where does Southwest fly?"

 

With my mom's health issues and a couple of other things, we've had to change flights practically last minute more than once and they've been superb helping talk us through it (and we get credit for even the cheap flights we've paid for).  They still allow two free checked bags - very helpful for traveling.  

 

Sometimes their flights are delayed because they'll often hold one for connecting passengers if one of their other flights is running late.  I've heard that as a complaint, but personally, we consider it a plus - very nice of them to do that - and makes me feel better about making connections if it ever happened to us.

[SKL]

I am also a fan of Southwest.  :)

[8circles]

DS is flying on United today - supposed to be this morning, now rerouted through O'Hare this afternoon/late evening.

 

I'm trying to stay positive.

[OneStepAtATime]

DS is flying on United today - supposed to be this morning, now rerouted through O'Hare this afternoon/late evening.

 

I'm trying to stay positive.

They will probably be a LOT more cautious about how they handle things today.  We can hope, anyway.  Hugs and good luck.

[kitten18]

We're sitting in Denver waiting to board our Southwest flight.

 

We're always happy when we can fly Southwest and even more so today. ðŸ˜

Edited April 11, 2017 by kitten18

[zimom]

My daughter is flying as an unaccompanied minor for the first time on United in a couple of weeks and then joining her team to fly onto the UK.  This trip wasn't stressful enough for Mom  :scared:

 

[edelweiss]

We're sitting in Denver waiting to board our Southwest flight.

 

We're always happy when we can fly Southwest and even more so today. ðŸ˜

 

I flew home from NYC yesterday on Delta.  I was reading all about this United thing when I was sitting in LaGuardia.  I was so happy to be flying on Delta rather than United!!