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Actually, there are several versions of this story, but, frankly it sounds like it was the fault of the airline, in addition to obnoxious airline personnel--not the passengers. I would have been angry also. Other passengers said nobody was being "unruly."
"A man was sitting in the wrong seat. And he and the woman were supposed to switch seats but they decided they wanted to sit together, the flight attendant overheard the conversation and he came over, and kind of was making nasty remarks, making them switch," Wright said.
"[The flight attendant] was just really nasty towards him and was like, 'No, you guys need to switch,'" Wright said. "[The male passenger] politely got up and switched seats, and the flight attendant continued to make really mean, nasty remarks towards the passenger ... and the guy was like 'No, I'm not leaving, I don't have a reason to get off this flight. I didn't do anything wrong."
"Witness Tyler Grosso told ABC News the flight attendant yelled at a man, saying he threatened him.
"The man never threatened the flight attendant," Grosso said. "Multiple people were standing up for him saying he never said anything."
How is overbooking even legal. You're selling something you don't have.
Perfectly legal.
Airlines, hotels, auto rental and cruise lines all routinely overbook because X % cancel or don't show.
Federal laws address some semblance of airline passenger rights in the event of overbooking. When faced with an overbooked situation at the gate, it's common for the airline to offer passengers incentive to take a later flight. If no takers, the airline usually increases the incentive and sooner or later enough people give up their seat. In the unlikely event there are no takers, the airline can bump any passenger.
It's also common for airlines to switch seats when faced with infants or passengers in need of traveling companions for security purposes.
Sounds like the airline made an honest attempt to accommodate the guy, but he refused to be accommodated - they did get the couple seated together before they were removed for being unruly.
A couple of variables matter. Did he switch from a middle seat to an isle/window? Economy to economy plus? The person with the actual assigned seat would have a legit beef, and the steward(ess) would be obliged to correct the situation.
I have never heard of an airline removing a passenger ON the plane in an overbooking situation. I have seen passengers denied boarding - and usually there are a variety of "inducement" to find "volunteers" in these situations. The overbooked passengers are always compensated in some way in my experience (even if they didn't volunteer).
I think he was removed for behavior, not overbooking - race is not an issue. Poor and unruly behavior is the issue.
One of the issues with Spirit is there business model, they charge for everything, the seat you select might have paid a premium for, and don't want to give it up,
Generally they have one flight per day, So a Bump will be 24hour delay. Good Luck getting them to pay for a hotel or meals.
My parents, aunt, and uncle all flew to FL for a work convention this summer. When leaving to return home, they got to the airport in Orlando, where they were supposed to get on the same afternoon flight back to EWR together, where they were told the flight was overbooked and one of the couples would have to stay behind. My aunt and uncle chose to stay behind at the airport until an evening flight, where they got free drinks, access to a nice lounge, and a $500 voucher or something, in the meantime.
These idiots should have accepted the same. Now they humiliated themselves and got a police escort off the flight - but hey, at least they have the racism claim to fall back on, huh? Must be nice to be a minority who can pull that one out of their sleeve and get their 15 minutes and attempt to excuse their horrible behavior.
Then whoever cancels should have to pay, seems the most logical thing.
Airlines bought some politicians way back when I assume.
What a load.
I agree, I think it's wrong, too. What if someone has an emergency of some sort, hence the reason for flying, and needs to get on that plane, but is told the flight is overbooked? It sucks.
But, in the case of my aunt and uncle (my above post), if you're in no rush, it's nice to receive the perks some airlines will give you (or maybe all, not sure). I believe they flew JetBlue.
Doesn't this happen on every full flight, at every airport, every day?
Airlines overbook all the time, but I've never heard of passengers actually being removed from their seats on the airplane due to overbooking. Definitely odd.
Ugh...must be a slow day because this is a non-story. As another poster stated, this happens every day.
From the story...
''They were given hotel vouchers and booked on a flight to Dallas on Tuesday'', Pedregon said.
Yes, it happens every day in that you show up at the gate without confirmed seats and they say it's overbooked and offer vouchers, etc... . Not the same as getting on the plane, getting to your seat and then being removed.
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Must be nice to be a minority who can pull that one out of their sleeve and get their 15 minutes and attempt to excuse their horrible behavior.
