If I was that guy I'd sue for much more than $800
Not everybody on that plane needed to be on that flight, they just didn't offer enough.
United Airlines forcibly remove passenger from overbooked flight
- Thread starter Raoul
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Not everybody on that plane needed to be on that flight, they just didn't offer enough.
I've seen airlines offer cash/etc. countless times on the budget airlines in Europe. Every single time someone has taken the offer though. Pretty crazy that it got to this.
Very baffling. You'd think the airlines were regulated better than this.
This is an everyday practice by every single airline in the world. Every flight is overbooked if it can be.
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That's disgusting, I hope he sues the shit out of them.
The man has paid for his ticket, and is sitting in his seat (and also he's a doctor who really need to get back it could seem like?) - not his problem that the airline has overbooked, is it now?
The man has paid for his ticket, and is sitting in his seat (and also he's a doctor who really need to get back it could seem like?) - not his problem that the airline has overbooked, is it now?
His lawyer might. the point being, once law enforcement was involved, his chances of being allowed to stay on the flight pretty much dropped to zero. He might just as well have walked off rather than having to be dragged out.
I guess it is a matter of which battles do you want to fight and which ones you have a chance at winning.
He was never winning the fight to stay aboard.
That said, airlines should not be allowed to overbook and if they do they should handle it by just not letting any excess passengers board. Last ones to check in, get left behind to catch the next flight with an adequate compensation package. It NEVER should have gotten to this point.
Start at $100. Keep adding 100 until someone bites. How difficult is that?
It's actually a thing to book tickets on these flights knowing they will be overbooked so you can profit from the compensation.
Surely this is against some sort of regulation? He paid for a service, and he didn't get that service. If he really did have patients to see and they just removed him like that then it's disgusting. feck America and your generally shite way of going about things
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Yeah I guess it depends if he can win the legal battle on this one. My suspicion is airlines already have a legal plan in place to deal with litigation on such grounds.
I really don't understand how they didn't deal with the overbooking before boarding. Normally they announce it at the gate beforehand and start offering compensation so it never comes to this.
He might not have a legal case to stay on the flight, but maybe the way they treated him is a little beyond the normal
Everyone on the flight should have left in protest.
Oh absolutely. I'm just saying if he left voluntarily without this ever happening I'm not sure he'd win the legal case. Just a shit situation to be in.
problem solved then.by the way, most seemed unconcerned and/or too busy taking videos.
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Exactly. The airline is probably allowed to remove passengers without any other reason that the plane is overbooked but the way they've done that is assault. If the guy refuses, it's certainly way out of line to pull him along the ground like rubbish. Interesting that this "random" process seems to have a picked a smaller built Asian man.
Tbh that is a disgrace that they can get away with that.
I've read somewhere that he said he's a doctor and needed to be in the destination city the next day. Not sure if that's true, or if it matters tbh.
If he was a frequent flyer then I'd expect he wouldn't have been chosen "at random".
When was the next flight that he could get on - meaning how inconvenienced was he? All that matters and I didn't see that mentioned anywhere.
If he was a frequent flyer then I'd expect he wouldn't have been chosen "at random".
When was the next flight that he could get on - meaning how inconvenienced was he? All that matters and I didn't see that mentioned anywhere.
That's the racism conclusively proved alright. Although it would also make the start of a good film starring Bruce Lee, with hilariously dubbed-on sound effects.
BBC confirmed he is a doctor that had appointments the next morning at hospital with patients. Pretty disgusting way to treat a customer.
The circumstances leading up to it were shitty to say the least, but what are they supposed to do if the person asked to leave the plane refuses? If the passenger isn't cooperative the only choice you have would be to drag him out.
That's disgusting. If this is a common problem then the airlines should take responsibility.
Offer money money for a different passenger to volunteer. You don't even a need a higher level maths degree, just primary school arithmetic.
They did that for a while until they reached the limit, like all airlines do. Anyway I'm not debating the system, which everyone can agree is unethical and greedy.
Was just responding to someone saying the airline had the right to kick him off but disputed the method. How else were they supposed to get him off if he refused? If an airline wants you off their plane and you refuse, they would have no choice but to get physical.
Good business by that passenger. By refusing their cash offer he's probably just made himself a couple of million in damages.
There's always a choice. The manager who made the decision could have called his superiors and asked for the limited to be extended. They're offering a service to the public here, physically removing someone because of your own failings to handle something competently is the wrong choice.
Refusing to leave a plane upon being told to is a pretty stupid thing to do. Doesn't take a genius to work out what will happen next. Not like planes and airports have a reputation for being easy-going when it comes to rules and security.
What's going to happen next is he's going sue them and get a feck ton of money because UA will want this to die down as soon as possible rather than have a protracted case about a doctor being beaten on their plane in the news. Don't give up your seat kids, take the feckers for all they're worth.
I'd agree if the passenger was being unruly and it was his fault that he was being bounced. In this case we have a paying customer who was being forced off against his will because the airline's policy backfired. Hopefully he has a great lawyer.
Perhaps they should have just left 1 member of staff behind?
He's a doctor in the US. I'm guessing having a great lawyer is required before a medical degree
Actually if you are going with the assault part, then was that the airline or a law enforcement officer?
Not necessarily, they have insurance for that stuff, which often includes with legal resources in the event of a claim.
Alternatively, he could be represented by a real life Lionel Hutz.
A great malpractice lawyer would help a Doctor very much, hopefully he knows a good lawyer versed in other parts of the law.
normally they sort this out at the gate, before boarding. shitty planning by United to let the passengers board before knowing they needed seats.
His legal case against the overbooking, I agree his chances are slim. Now with being removed by force....yeah he still has the same case against the overbooking, but the question is does he have a different case for being forceably removed? Probably does.
Then he should have lodged a complaint or refused to fly with them again. Once he refused to leave the plane though it stopped being a customer service issue and became a security one. You don't really get to pick and choose when you get kicked off a flight.
Somehow I missed this...aren't they universally recognized as the shittiest airline in the US?
Jackie Chiles would take UA down in court.
Only once was my seat double-booked, and despite seating first I offered my seat to the other person knowing full well something better would be on offer (and tbf, the guy was a bit of jerkoff "my seat! my seat"). The airline gave me a first class seat in lieu of bumping me off/offering me a voucher plus funds.
I have witnessed a few double-bookings, the most recent being an international flight from Atlanta to Stuttgart in 2015. The poor lady couldn't speak English (seems she was speaking German from what I could tell) and was just beside herself, frantic to a point. I tried to tell her in my native English to remain calm and a crew member would help shortly. I don't know what happened ultimately as a crew member whisked her to another area, presumably to another seat although perhaps she got the boot.
Only once was my seat double-booked, and despite seating first I offered my seat to the other person knowing full well something better would be on offer (and tbf, the guy was a bit of jerkoff "my seat! my seat"). The airline gave me a first class seat in lieu of bumping me off/offering me a voucher plus funds.
I have witnessed a few double-bookings, the most recent being an international flight from Atlanta to Stuttgart in 2015. The poor lady couldn't speak English (seems she was speaking German from what I could tell) and was just beside herself, frantic to a point. I tried to tell her in my native English to remain calm and a crew member would help shortly. I don't know what happened ultimately as a crew member whisked her to another area, presumably to another seat although perhaps she got the boot.