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We will see where this goes, airlines might be more conservative with their booking but unexpected things happen, weather, mechanical problems. So what happens next time an airline needs to get a crew quickly to another airport because of an unforeseen problem, do they just cancel the other flight with a few hundred people. Maybe they build in a contingency of several thousand dollars for each flight, who do you think ends up paying the bill.
This is a common occurrence but assume it is rare for no one to take the offer and for passengers out right refusal. I was on a flight last Friday and they offered the exact same deal on Delta, $800 in sky miles and someone took the offer but prior to boarding. Passengers will still be bumped but it will be in the boarding area.
These problems would be rare if the airlines did two things: 1) Stop overbooking passengers! 2)Stop understaffing!
Well, let's be fair: The only reason why this guy is going to get millions is because he got hurt. If his overriding objective was a big payout, then the only way to achieve it would be to force LEOs to physically remove him and ensure that he was badly hurt in the process. Otherwise, we would never have heard of this situation, and he'd have gotten 400% of the segment fare in IDB compensation and perhaps an overnight at a motel in Chicago and a few meal vouchers, if he was connecting.
This is a really critical aspect of the issue. For as long as I can remember there have been people who have deliberately gotten hit by cars so they could sue for feigned or real injuries. This invariably drives up the insurance rates for all of us. One of the potential outcomes from this situation this past week is a new breed of such folks, aiming to get hurt by airport police because they know the scrutiny is turned up and the likelihood that cities and airlines will be motivated to have their insurance companies throw money at the problem to keep deflecting it off of them and onto the next guy.
Don't be surprised to see a new fee added to airline tickets, a "compensation fee" perhaps, to cover the costs of legal action against airlines. The industry could even create a mutual insurance company for that, and given the power that wealth has in our country, easily get the government to ratify applying the fee without having to disclose it as part of the base fare, but rather only as an added fee just like the airport improvement fees.
Yes I conceded the blood and medical records of his injuries will add substantially to his payout.
But, people on the plane were filming before there was any blood or injury. So, imo, even if he were dragged out without injury, the same amount of public outrage would have been drummed up.
And, if as it appears increasingly likely, the security officers did not have the authority to board the plane or were misled by United employees as to the level of threat involved and did not retreat when they realized it was essentially a customer service issue, then merely gently touching his arm to entice him to get up probably constitutes assault and is a violation of his civil rights.
He would still have had a very high dollar lawsuit imo.
In this day and age of instant communication and computers enabling everything from your home heating system to remote monitoring of a beating heart thousands of miles away, there simply is no excuse for any Airline running into the risk zone of having a flight crew needing to be somewhere and at the same time fully booking their connecting flight so as to have this situation develop and surprise them.
No excuse other than they simply don't care and are confidant they can handle the flare up when it occurs.
Should a crew be nearing it's hours of duty cap and needing to be somewhere else for another trip; how in the name zenda can they claim they didn't know this well ahead of time...prior to boarding the aircraft.
A well managed company would have any crew scheduled to need transport checking in well ahead of time by phone to give the gate staff a heads up. This outfit is acting like they were taken by surprise by a crew needing to be transported somewhere else to crew another flight.
Even a third rate taxi company keeps better track of their drivers than this clown car outfit.
^^^^This! The company is poorly managed and they make the customers clean up their messes.
These problems would be rare if the airlines did two things: 1) Stop overbooking passengers! 2)Stop understaffing!
You dont seem to understand his point.
Let's say the airline has sold exactly the number of seats it physically has available on the plane. No problem. Now let's say a problem at the destination airport requires another plane crew. Is it better to inconvenience four passengers bumped from the one plane or the 100+ passengers on the other plane that will have their flight cancelled if a replacement crew doesn't arrive?
People complain about baggage fees, you can bet this will be covered in the cost. I have been on close to a thousand flights, never been bumped, never saw a passenger led off a plane. Let the people that are worried about this pay bumping insurance.
If we have to buy "bumping insurance" to protect against mismanagement of an airline industry, we then should also have the right for a full refund up to 24 hours before the flight without penalty!
Since blockading private property is initiation of violence, not only should be not receive a nickel in any settlement, he should be forced to pay all the economic damages of United Airlines which he caused by acting like a savage blockading banshee and endangering everyone around him. By escalating the situation, he exposed the other passengers to further delays and the possibility of violence against their persons.
His injuries are HIS FAULT, and he earned and deserved them when he decided not to yield property he did not own to those who did.
Perhaps now that we know he might have been a compulsive gambler, it could explain why he decided to do what he did. An admixture of insanity and the desire to collect a payday. Would it be unreasonable to imagine gambling debts that needed to be paid?
Glad you are not an attorney or judge. You are reciting laws and rights of citizens of North Korea.
If we have to buy "bumping insurance" to protect against mismanagement of an airline industry, we then should also have the right for a full refund up to 24 hours before the flight without penalty!
You do. If you CHOOSE to buy the ticket that doesn't allow a refund in order to get the discounted price, that is up to you.
At my old company, we bought full fair tickets many times due to how volatile our travel days were. Many times we thought a project might be completed on Wednesday, but we could finish early on Monday or late on Friday. It was cheaper to buy the full price ticket than have people sitting in the wrong city twiddling their thumbs or repurchasing tickets over and over.
Let's say the airline has sold exactly the number of seats it physically has available on the plane. No problem. Now let's say a problem at the destination airport requires another plane crew. Is it better to inconvenience four passengers bumped from the one plane or the 100+ passengers on the other plane that will have their flight cancelled if a replacement crew doesn't arrive?
It would be better to continue to up the ante to the passengers until you get enough takers.
Problems happen. Defending the right of airlines to deal with these problems as UA chose to is the main issue. No one walking away with $1500 in their pocket, or a plane ticket and room at a Caribbean resort as compensation is going to make the news. I'll drive 10 hrs for my money back, a free rental car to get me from airport to my intended destination, and a future free trip to Puerto Rico or the VI
The problem is deciding to solve YOUR issues by yanking a paying customer off a plane violently, injuring him, and then trying to claim you did nothing wrong in all this until the sheetstorm hits the fan.
And what you describe isnt overbooking, which would be a separate issue caused solely by the airline. Its full booking, yet needing the seats in an emergency situation.
But, in any case, he is a criminal. It has been well documented and his own attorney confirmed that he is a convicted felon. That's a criminal.
Which has absolutely no relevance to this matter, well unless you engage in "Blondy think" that convicted felons should be treated like second class citizens for the rest of their life.
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You are reciting laws and rights of citizens of North Korea.
