Fly the Unfriendly Skies

 

United Airlines has a PR nightmare on its hands as a disturbing video burned up the Internet. After overbooking the flight from Chicago to Louisville, the crew chose four passengers at random to leave the flight. Passenger number three was a doctor who said he needed to treat patients in the morning, so refused to leave. The flight crew called security, which forcibly yanked him out of his seat and dragged him down the aisle.

This being 2017, several passengers recorded the whole thing on their smartphones:

Airline staff first tried a carrot before using a stick. Before boarding, they offered passengers $400 and a hotel stay to give up their seats. Once boarded, they doubled it to $800 and said the flight wouldn’t leave until four people were gone. When no one volunteered, a computer selected four passengers at random.

With condemnation raining down on the airline, United’s CEO issued a statement:

Using the term “re-accommodate” to describe forcibly dragging a customer off a plane only fueled the online firestorm.

How should United have reacted in this situation and what can they do to fix it?

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  1. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    cirby (View Comment):
    If it turns out that there were other, non-time-sensitive United personnel on that plane, they’re screwed, to the tune of millions of dollars. If it turns out that there were a bunch of pilots sitting on the ground at the other end of the flight who just weren’t scheduled, they’re also screwed.

    I wonder if they offered the whole plane the money, or just the four they picked?

    If they didn’t do an auction, slowly upping the price? Screwed.

    I’d say they’re pretty much screwed regardless of how any of these items turn out.

    The court of public opinion doesn’t have much patience for pesky things like “discovery of evidence” or “cross-examination”. The jury has already reached its final verdict less than half a day after the event, and United has been found guilty.

    Luckily for United, though, the court of public opinion also has a memory span of approximately 24 hours. And is highly addicted to cheap airfares.

    • #91
  2. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    How about this?

    “Isn’t this Chicago?  I heard on the news that you guys can’t enforce federal law.”

    • #92
  3. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Man oh man. This is just crazy. My question is can the passenger press charges for assault? Also, isn’t overbooking a form of fraud? Do they get some special dispensation to do this from the various regulatory agencies?

     

    • #93
  4. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Doug Watt (View Comment):
    The police are in a no-win situation here. If a police officer tells you to get off the plane it is much better for you if you walk off under your own power.

    Yes. I may be right, but that is for a day I’m court.

    • #94
  5. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    Man oh man. This is just crazy. My question is can the passenger press charges for assault? Also, isn’t overbooking a form of fraud? Do they get some special dispensation to do this from the various regulatory agencies?

    #1.  Yes, but in this case, it was the police.  Not that that’ll be a problem in a lawsuit, because facts don’t matter with juries – they’ll base their judgement on the feelz.

    #2.  No – they’ve fully disclosed in the fine print

    #3.   Yes.  Airlines are highly regulated, and the government has specific minimums that must be provided to bumped passengers.

    • #95
  6. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Mendel (View Comment):

    cirby (View Comment):
    If it turns out that there were other, non-time-sensitive United personnel on that plane, they’re screwed, to the tune of millions of dollars. If it turns out that there were a bunch of pilots sitting on the ground at the other end of the flight who just weren’t scheduled, they’re also screwed.

    I wonder if they offered the whole plane the money, or just the four they picked?

    If they didn’t do an auction, slowly upping the price? Screwed.

    I’d say they’re pretty much screwed regardless of how any of these items turn out.

    The court of public opinion doesn’t have much patience for pesky things like “discovery of evidence” or “cross-examination”. The jury has already reached its final verdict less than half a day after the event, and United has been found guilty.

    Luckily for United, though, the court of public opinion also has a memory span of approximately 24 hours. And is highly addicted to cheap airfares.

    And we like the gambling aspect of it too. Who knows. You might win a free air ticket, hotel room, and 400$ or you might get violently dragged of a plane and thrown in a gutter. Heck it could even be a boat!

    • #96
  7. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Lily Bart (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    Man oh man. This is just crazy. My question is can the passenger press charges for assault? Also, isn’t overbooking a form of fraud? Do they get some special dispensation to do this from the various regulatory agencies?

    #1. Yes, but in this case, it was the police. Not that that’ll be a problem in a lawsuit, because facts don’t matter with juries – they’ll base their judgement on the feelz.

    #2. No – they’ve fully disclosed in the fine print

    #3. Yes. Airlines are highly regulated, and the government has specific minimums that must be provided to bumped passengers.

    Ah the fine print. Still, it is a bad way to treat your costumers. I guess though on the whole it beats 3 months of sea sickness and scurvy just to cross the Atlantic. One day we will have teleportation devices and then we wont need to deal with all this mess. Beam me up Scotty!

    • #97
  8. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    I still don’t understand why United didn’t solve this before they fully loaded the plane. Surely they knew more than 30 minutes before flight time that a they needed the 4 seats for the deadhead crew. There might be an unpleasant scene at the gate, but it would be less unpleasant than a scene on the plane.

    • #98
  9. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    Still, it is a bad way to treat your costumers.

    Please don’t misunderstand me – I HATE IT that this man was forced off his flight along with the three others on that flight who were removed, and the everyone else who’ve lost their seats to over-booking or whatever.  I really want airlines to find a better way, and hope this colossal blunder will result in some improvement in the situation.

    But no one covered themselves in glory here – not the airline, not the police, but also not the grown man who threw a ridiculous fit.   I read that he broke away from security and rushed back on chanting “I have to get home”, and then was re-escorted off.   Do you even wonder about his mental condition?  Maybe he’s not completely sane.  Or maybe sane, but an incredibly childish person.

    If this guy was really the brilliant and indispensable doctor everyone is giving him credit for being, why didn’t he leave with his dignity in place, rent a car and drive home (4 hours, I understand), refuse to give United another dime of his money, and book with a better airline in the future?   And maybe tweet and facebook about his experience and get everyone outraged and angry at United and cost United business in that way?

     

    • #99
  10. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    There is ALWAYS a price at which the airline could have gotten 4 people to volunteer to give up their seats so the deadhead crew could be carried. What kept the gate agent from running up the auction? Does the company discourage gate agents from asking supervisors for more Vouchers? Is there a blanket rule “no more than $800 vouchers”? United needs to reeaxamine whatever kept the gate agent from continuing the auction to find volunteers to give up their seats. (And logistics needs to inform gate agents before boarding how many seats they need for relocating crew.)

    • #100
  11. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    A problem with a strict “no overbooking” rule is that the airlines could turn it on the passengers and refuse to accommodate the passenger when the passenger misses a flight because of something beyond the passenger’s control (flat tire on way to airport, cruse ship late in docking, extra-long TSA line, etc.)

    • #101
  12. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Ok, we can now rest easier, Celebrities have chimed in now and told us their thoughts…

    ….celebrities such as Judd Apatow, Chrissy Teigen, Billy Eichner, Piers Morgan, Mark Cuban, Karrueche Tran, and Gabrielle Union were quick to react on social media.

    Yay!

    • #102
  13. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Lily Bart (View Comment):
    Ok, we can now rest easier, Celebrities have chimed in now and told us their thoughts…

    ….celebrities such as Judd Apatow, Chrissy Teigen, Billy Eichner, Piers Morgan, Mark Cuban, Karrueche Tran, and Gabrielle Union were quick to react on social media.

    Yay!

    Oh. I’m supposed to care what they think?

    • #103
  14. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    Lily Bart (View Comment):
    Ok, we can now rest easier, Celebrities have chimed in now and told us their thoughts…

    ….celebrities such as Judd Apatow, Chrissy Teigen, Billy Eichner, Piers Morgan, Mark Cuban, Karrueche Tran, and Gabrielle Union were quick to react on social media.

    Yay!

    Oh. I’m supposed to care what they think?

    No.  I was attempting sarcasm.

    • #104
  15. Brian Wyneken Member
    Brian Wyneken
    @BrianWyneken

    I really like Southwest’s method of boarding in the order of check-in. It makes a lot of sense to me to create incentives for people to commit to the flight as early as possible. Also, it’s orderly and it eliminates the gate crowding.

    To Jon’s question:

    If United did have deadhead their crew such that they had to remove seated passengers, I think “last-to-check-in” makes more sense than random selection. That’s a principle that could be explained and more passengers would likely find that acceptable rather than to be randomly picked. I’d also announce that the unlucky selectees would be compensated at a rate higher than the last volunteer offer, and then give them the option to take that amount or let the airline try one more time for a volunteer at that final rate. Finally, I would dedicate a United employee to help the removed passengers with their trip planning.

    • #105
  16. JcTPatriot Member
    JcTPatriot
    @

    Doug Watt (View Comment):
    I have one other problem with this and that is the police being used in a non-violent situation. I’m not sure why it’s a law enforcement problem if a United flight can’t leave the gate due to a business problem. They should have offered a lot more money until they found 4 passengers that believed they were getting a pretty good deal. One of those four seats is going to cost United airlines a lot more than an empty seat, in fact the entire flight will probably be a total financial loss, perhaps several flights that day will not cover the loss.

    That is a very good point. My oldest brother had a job that included a company car. He got fired for whatever reason, and had nothing to use to get around, so he kept driving the car for a month or so. One day the cops showed up and he had to go to court. He had done nothing else wrong in his life – I mean that, no record at all – and this event was causing him to have a breakdown in court. The judge was so angry, he started yelling at the prosecutor for trying to use the law to settle a business matter and threw everyone out of the courtroom. He took my brother into the judges’ chambers until he had calmed down enough to stop shaking violently. He asked my brother if he planned to do any more wrong and my brother said no, never ever. That was the end of it, and my brother, though certainly no angel, has never crossed the line again, as far as I know.

    • #106
  17. Mark Wilson Inactive
    Mark Wilson
    @MarkWilson

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    A problem with a strict “no overbooking” rule is that the airlines could turn it on the passengers and refuse to accommodate the passenger when the passenger misses a flight because of something beyond the passenger’s control (flat tire on way to airport, cruse ship late in docking, extra-long TSA line, etc.)

    As far as I know, the only time they accommodate you is if it was their fault, like a delayed flight.  Otherwise you pay a $200 change fee plus the difference in fare for the new seat.  And they don’t subtract anything if your new seat is actually cheaper.

    • #107
  18. Paul Dougherty Member
    Paul Dougherty
    @PaulDougherty

    There are establishments in Chicago where people pay a premium for this kind of treatment. Think about it: a doctor…. public humiliation…. a mild beating…. could be a put up job.

    • #108
  19. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Brian Wyneken (View Comment):
    To Jon’s question:

    If United did have deadhead their crew such that they had to remove seated passengers, I think “last-to-check-in” makes more sense than random selection. That’s a principle that could be explained and more passengers would likely find that acceptable rather than to be randomly picked. I’d also announce that the unlucky selectees would be compensated at a rate higher than the last volunteer offer, and then give them the option to take that amount or let the airline try one more time for a volunteer at that final rate. Finally, I would dedicate a United employee to help the removed passengers with their trip planning.

    Sounds sensible.   Also, it would motivate people to check in on time!

    • #109
  20. Matt White Member
    Matt White
    @

    Lily Bart (View Comment):
    If this guy was really the brilliant and indispensable doctor everyone is giving him credit for being,

    I don’t care if was a brilliant doctor or a useless jerk. He didn’t deserve that. Airlines have been needing a beat down for a while. They need to treat people better.

    • #110
  21. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart
    • #111
  22. Matt White Member
    Matt White
    @

    Mark Wilson (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    A problem with a strict “no overbooking” rule is that the airlines could turn it on the passengers and refuse to accommodate the passenger when the passenger misses a flight because of something beyond the passenger’s control (flat tire on way to airport, cruse ship late in docking, extra-long TSA line, etc.)

    As far as I know, the only time they accommodate you is if it was their fault, like a delayed flight. Otherwise you pay a $200 change fee plus the difference in fare for the new seat. And they don’t subtract anything if your new seat is actually cheaper.

    That’s if you change the ticket ahead of time. I don’t know what they do if you don’t make it in time, but I bet it’s worse.

    • #112
  23. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Pilli (View Comment):
    Devil’s Advocate:

    1. The guy “said” he was a doctor and that he had patients to treat. Is that true? Could another doctor have treated his patients?
    2. Airlines are under some very strict rules regarding crew rest time. If crew were needed in Louisville, they have to be in Louisville well before they fly in order to meet rest requirements. I have been on flights that had to wait over an hour for a crew because of rest requirements. Their inbound flight the night before was weather delayed.
    3. Do pilot union rules allow a crew to be driven to another airport many hours away?
    4. Do Flight attendant union rules allow the crew to be driven to another airport many miles away?

    I hate flying these days. It’s a P.I.T.A. I dislike airlines and the way they are operated. I dislike the boorish attitudes of many passengers. This story illustrates why.

    The man who was removed was a paying customer. It does not matter why he did not want to get off. He paid for a ticket.

    I agree, union rules were probably involved.

    They just spent way more than necessary in PR capital and real cash than if they had just kept upping the bumping bonus until they found more takers.

    Rule 1: never drag a patron off the plane unless they hit crew or another patron first.

     

    • #113
  24. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    (h/t KC)

    • #114
  25. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    Everybody involved from the CEO to the cops on the ground should be caned.

     

    • #115
  26. cirby Inactive
    cirby
    @cirby

    Brian Wyneken (View Comment):
    If United did have deadhead their crew such that they had to remove seated passengers, I think “last-to-check-in” makes more sense than random selection.

    I’m betting that something got in the way of that – like a handful of United employees either flying standby or deadheading for later flights.

    The rule about involuntary bumping is that they have to pay you 400% of your ticket price if they delay you more than two hours. The cheapest one-way United Express ticket is $196, so they should have offered him at least $784 for the bump. If he paid more than that for the ticket, they could have been on the hook for as much as $1350.

    This is only supposed to be for overbooked flights, though: being bumped for crew scheduling foulups should be a whole different situation. If someone bumped him because it would be somewhat more convenient for the airline (instead of shuffling the next day’s crew schedules), they’re probably going to be paying out some serious money, on top of the reputation and stock price hits…

     

    • #116
  27. Brian Wyneken Member
    Brian Wyneken
    @BrianWyneken

    RE:  the second part of Jon’s question – what can United do to fix it?

    First, advise your CEO not to send an e-mail to all United employees which describes the passenger as “belligerent” and “disruptive” (even if he was). E-mails will leak. Oops – too late!

    Second, advise your company spokesman not to assert that United had done all that it could to provide incentives for volunteers. Everyone know that’s nonsense. Oops – too late!

    Jon – this is textbook on how NOT to handle crisis communications. The premise of your question may be flawed insofar as it seems to assume this company has a competent PR office.

    At this point, in addition to a forthcoming acknowledgment of responsibility for mishandling their boarding procedures and a promise to amend processes, they need to let Munoz go. I don’t typically like the “fire the CEO” impulse, but I think this guy has demonstrated his lack of care for the revenue providers to his company.

     

    • #117
  28. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Mendel (View Comment):

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    In the overbooked scenario they are the ones with the immediate, pressing demand and the fannies in the seats have the monopoly supply

    It’s not a monopoly supply if you have 100 different actors. Passengers can also get competitive once the incentives get offered.

    I’ve seen many examples of 10 people or more rushing the gate agent when they ask for 2-3 volunteers willing to get bumped overnight in exchange for hotel and a $250 credit.

    Right, but those people volunteer, and the bump option fits their travel schedule.

    This whole thing could have been caused by a low level employee screwing up and not reserving the seats required for crew.

    Regardless, the overbooking is so regular, the customer no longer believes the airline is being genuine.

    For petes sake, they charge for a bag, for the overhead bin. I’m surprised they don’t say bring your own portapotty .

    • #118
  29. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    cirby (View Comment):
    If it turns out that there were other, non-time-sensitive United personnel on that plane, they’re screwed, to the tune of millions of dollars.

    If I’m on the jury, the guy doesn’t get a penny.  It’s too bad nobody took the incentives offered, but once they tell him he has to deplane,  he has to deplane, even if it’s stupid.  His resisting just adds to to the stupid, on his part.

    • #119
  30. Brian Wyneken Member
    Brian Wyneken
    @BrianWyneken

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    cirby (View Comment):
    If it turns out that there were other, non-time-sensitive United personnel on that plane, they’re screwed, to the tune of millions of dollars.

    If I’m on the jury, the guy doesn’t get a penny. It’s too bad nobody took the incentives offered, but once they tell him he has to deplane, he has to deplane, even if it’s stupid. His resisting just adds to to the stupid, on his part.

    As annoyed as I am with United, I tend to agree with respect to any actual damages or claims for punitive damages. My sense is that United’s initial reaction was to sort of “lawyer-up”  (minimizing their responsibility) which I think was really very foolish given that this is more of a PR debacle than a legal liability case.

    • #120
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