United Airlines Incident

• fish82

  

  Zunardo;1846950 wrote:I read United's CoC. The wrinkle is, if they actually chose the guy randomly, then they didn't follow their own contract. It states the priority for non-volunteers will be those who paid the least go first, not a random selection.
  
  Of course, they'll probably say there's a provision in the contract that says they can "change the contract at anytime", which means it's pretty damn worthless as a legal contract. Any guesses how they would have responded for the following situations during this "random" bumping?
  
  - the random passenger that turned out to be a 7 year-old kid traveling with this parents. Airline entitled to force just the kid off by himself?
  
  - a family of two parents and three kids are on the flight, and the parents are chosen. Airline entitled to force just the parents off?
  
  - the doctor was at the midpoint for a stop on a continuous flight. Airline entitled to kick him off the plane after he's already flown partway?
  
  I've been told anecdotally that just because a company claims no liability before you use their service, there has to be a "reasonable man" doctrine in play. You don't give up all your rights just because a company says you do. Any truth in that, and could that be in play here?

  I don't know what they told the passengers, but it for sure wasn't a "random" decision. They most certianly followed the guidelines in the CoC.
  
  As soon as the guy started making a fuss and being disruptive, he was in violation of at least two more sections of the CoC, and they were at that point perfectly within their rights to drag his ass off the plane. While it's certianly debateable from a "right thing to do" and PR standpoint, they're legally in the clear.
  
  If Dr. Feelgood's lawer is worth a shit, he'll advise his client to accept what I'm sure will be a more than generous offer from UA, and quietly ride off into the sunset.
• QuakerOats

  From a PR standpoint, perhaps United could have sweetened the offer(s) even further in order to get some takers. Regardless though, when a police officer gives you an order, it is always a good idea to follow the order, whether you feel slighted or not. This 'resistance' bullshit is getting a little old.
• OSH

  

  Maybe I'll fly United here soon...tickets could be cheap.
• iclfan2

  

  Apparently pulling passengers off after boarding violates United's own COC. also, just because you sign something with the airline doesn't mean there is no possibility of winning in a court. Finally, I get the whole he should have just got off argument, but say you bought this ticket 6 months ahead of time for a $10k vacation, or have a job interview that you only get one shot, etc. I'm glad someone stood up to the worst ran industry there is.
  
  Decent article, which also points out, was it an "oversold" flight, or did they just need to move employees? It would seem all ticketed passengers had enough seats.
  http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/11/did-united-airlines-violate-its-own-contract-by-forcing-that-passenger-off-the-plane/
• Zunardo

  QuakerOats;1846978 wrote:From a PR standpoint, perhaps United could have sweetened the offer(s) even further in order to get some takers. Regardless though, when a police officer gives you an order, it is always a good idea to follow the order, whether you feel slighted or not. This 'resistance' bullshit is getting a little old.

  I don't think it can be equated to the "resistance" movement. I believe you're referring to specific instances primarily where the impetus for the "resistance" was alleged breaking of the law, including "resisting".
  
  In this instance, the impetus is that a company purported to offer a product, the customer paid for it, and it was then given to the customer, but then taken away before the customer could use the product.
  
  I'd allege that was false advertising and theft. Call it a "Contract of Customer".
• sleeper

  

  iclfan2;1847003 wrote:Apparently pulling passengers off after boarding violates United's own COC. also, just because you sign something with the airline doesn't mean there is no possibility of winning in a court. Finally, I get the whole he should have just got off argument, but say you bought this ticket 6 months ahead of time for a $10k vacation, or have a job interview that you only get one shot, etc. I'm glad someone stood up to the worst ran industry there is.
  
  Decent article, which also points out, was it an "oversold" flight, or did they just need to move employees? It would seem all ticketed passengers had enough seats.
  http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/11/did-united-airlines-violate-its-own-contract-by-forcing-that-passenger-off-the-plane/

  Regulations make airlines the worst run industry out there. If we remove all regulations for airlines, the customer would win and we would be in economic nirvana. I saw it on Fox News.
• QuakerOats

  sleeper;1847006 wrote:Regulations make airlines the worst run industry out there. If we remove all regulations for airlines, the customer would win and we would be in economic nirvana. I saw it on Fox News.

  
  ahh come on ...........travelers want the safest planes, perfectly smooth flights, filet and cabernet on route, hot stewardesses, unlimited carry-on storage, 12 toilets always available, and ultra-cheap discount airfares ...................only government bureaucrats can deliver such value, so regulate on...........
• sleeper

  

  QuakerOats;1847011 wrote:ahh come on ...........travelers want the safest planes, perfectly smooth flights, filet and cabernet on route, hot stewardesses, unlimited carry-on storage, 12 toilets always available, and ultra-cheap discount airfares ...................only government bureaucrats can deliver such value, so regulate on...........

  Yes without regulations, we only need a few thousand to die before people can choose a different airline. Thank god that US carriers don't have an effective monopoly; the invisible hand will save us!
• QuakerOats

  Yep ....crashing planes is always a good way to attract customers.
• sleeper

  

  QuakerOats;1847021 wrote:Yep ....crashing planes is always a good way to attract customers.

  Okay big government bureaucrat. Who are you to tell what the consumer wants? If someone wants to spend their money to crash in a plane, they should be allowed to. Let the market decide!
• Sonofanump

  sleeper;1847022 wrote:Okay big government bureaucrat. Who are you to tell what the consumer wants? If someone wants to spend their money to crash in a plane, they should be allowed to. Let the market decide!

  I don't recall Milton Freeman saying that.
• QuakerOats

  Pass out pacifiers as part of the boarding process.
• QuakerOats

  Sonofanump;1847027 wrote:I don't recall Milton Freeman saying that.

  He didn't .............but maybe Milton Friedman.
• sleeper

  

  Sonofanump;1847027 wrote:I don't recall Milton Freeman saying that.

  Let the market decide! Free market for the win!
  
  Clean water? Let the market decide! No, monopolies on water supply won't act in their own interest, they will totally give the consumer what they want at its lowest price. The invisible hand runs the world! Regulations just hinder profits and jobs!
• like_that

  

  Sleeper taking his piece of shit political troll act to another thread and ruining it? Color me shocked. At this point is there even an argument on who the biggest troll trash is on this site?
• QuakerOats

  The folks in Flint, Michigan and Sebring, Ohio love their government-delivered water. Trusting bureaucrats and regulators is MAGA.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  like_that;1847032 wrote:Sleeper taking his piece of shit political troll act to another thread and ruining it? Color me shocked. At this point is there even an argument on who the biggest troll trash is on this site?

  There really isn't even a debate. I would take Turdo/Skyhook's BS over his at this point.
• sleeper

  

  QuakerOats;1847034 wrote:The folks in Flint, Michigan and Sebring, Ohio love their government-delivered water. Trusting bureaucrats and regulators is MAGA.

  This is the classic Republican approach to government. Drastically underfund programs to failure and then claim the government is the problem.
  
  This is why the Republican party, who controls all 3 branches of government, is unable to accomplish anything. Their entire shtick is to decry the government for being a failure while being the reason for its own failure. It's quite laughable if it wasn't so sad.
• sleeper

  

  like_that;1847032 wrote:Sleeper taking his piece of shit political troll act to another thread and ruining it? Color me shocked. At this point is there even an argument on who the biggest troll trash is on this site?

  And your act continues to be "I have no thoughts of my own but I will say sleeper is trolling on every thread".
• justincredible

  

  Cleaned up a few posts at the end of the thread just to keep it from getting worse.
• like_that

  

  justincredible;1847048 wrote:Cleaned up a few posts at the end of the thread just to keep it from getting worse.

  Sure, let's just let sleeper ruin every thread with his act and not allow anyone to call him out on it.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  like_that;1847051 wrote:Sure, let's just let sleeper ruin every thread with his act and not allow anyone to call him out on it.

  Seriously, half assed/inconsistent modding is never a good approach.
• justincredible

  

  I removed him from the thread and cleaned up the crap at the end. He saw it, because he responded.
• like_that

  

  Alright, anyway can we address the fact this doctor apparently is a piece of shit?
  
  It seems like whenever people go viral in their favor it comes back to haunt them these days.
• Automatik

  

  It's only been one day and I'm already over this story.