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I will never understand how or why people think it is OK to resist what the police are asking you to do. I mean sure it wasn't right HOW they did what they did, but it didn't have to escalate to that point.
I will never understand how or why people think it is OK to resist what the police are asking you to do. I mean sure it wasn't right HOW they did what they did, but it didn't have to escalate to that point.
I'll just say what I would do if I were the cop.
Once he showed me his boarding pass with that seat number, I'd tell the airline that I'd need to get a supervisor in order to remove him and it might be an hour or more.
I bet the airline would reconsider their options then.
I will never understand how or why people think it is OK to resist what the police are asking you to do. I mean sure it wasn't right HOW they did what they did, but it didn't have to escalate to that point.
It escalated to that point because these people were already seated. They wanted to remove them for united airline employees who obviously showed up late. United screwed up big time in not holding out those seats in the first place.
It escalated to that point because these people were already seated. They wanted to remove them for united airline employees who obviously showed up late. United screwed up big time in not holding out those seats in the first place.
I fully understand the story and what happened. Obviously United (and most other airlines) don't plan well, but it is within their rights to refuse service to someone, and when they call in the police to enforce those rights, there is nothing to be gained by clutching onto your seat, screaming like a maniac, and refusing their demands.
Once he showed me his boarding pass with that seat number, I'd tell the airline that I'd need to get a supervisor in order to remove him and it might be an hour or more.
I bet the airline would reconsider their options then.
As an officer you don't have the right to do that, its up to the airline to decide if someone gets removed.
It escalated to that point because these people were already seated. They wanted to remove them for united airline employees who obviously showed up late. United screwed up big time in not holding out those seats in the first place.
Not that I think United was morally right to do what they did, but....
The plane was private property. Standard practice is that they probably have to reimburse the person if taken to court or possibly end up having to cough up money for damages, since they took money in exchange for a promise of specific services and they can not or will preform it, but they can demand someone leave that private property. If the person doesn't leave it is trespassing and therefore breaking the law.
Like everyone else, I think they should have upped the offer, at some point someone would have taken them up on it. Even if they ended up having to pay double or triple the amount they offered it would have better significantly cheaper than what this is going to cost them in attempted damage control.
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No, airlines can't tell an officer he can't wait for his supervisor.
The point is this isn't some consumer debate where you are trying to return an item to a store. The airline has the legal right to request a passenger be removed, the gate agents represent the airlines and the existing rules, there is no need to get a supervisor to enforce an existing rule. Additionally I'm sure it wouldn't take an hour to get someone, not to mention the fact that the pilot would likely chime in and ask the officer to comply with the wishes of the airline and remove the passenger.
It was an unfortunate and ugly situation and I hate the way airlines treat people, but they were within their rights. The officers and the passenger were responsible for the ridiculous behavior that ensued.
I fully understand the story and what happened. Obviously United (and most other airlines) don't plan well, but it is within their rights to refuse service to someone, and when they call in the police to enforce those rights, there is nothing to be gained by clutching onto your seat, screaming like a maniac, and refusing their demands.
Well that is legal point that they will probably lose in a law suit. They contracted with a customer. The customer did not cause an incident on their own volition. United airlines failed to honor their part of the agreement. Yes they may have language in the fine print but that will take the court to hash out whether that language is enforacle and legitimate.
At the end of the day United would of saved a lot more money by dealing with in multiple different ways.
1. Puddle jump the United crew
2. Upped the offers to passengers to give up their seats voluntarily.
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