Doctor Dragged From United Plane After Computer "Solves" Overbooking Problem

[FunkyMike]

A man was violently dragged off of a United Airlines flight Sunday evening after it was apparently overbooked, according to passengers who were on the plane.

 

 

As The Courier Journal reports, a United spokesperson confirmed in an email Sunday night that a passenger had been taken off a flight in Chicago.

 

Quote

"Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked," the spokesperson said. "After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate.

 

"We apologize for the overbook situation. Further details on the removed customer should be directed to authorities."

 

Passengers were told at the gate that the flight was overbooked and United, offering $400 and a hotel stay, was looking for one volunteer to take another flight to Louisville at 3 p.m. Monday. Passengers were allowed to board the flight, Bridges said, and once the flight was filled those on the plane were told that four people needed to give up their seats to stand-by United employees that needed to be in Louisville on Monday for a flight. Passengers were told that the flight would not take off until the United crew had seats, Bridges said, and the offer was increased to $800, but no one volunteered.

 

Then, she said, a manager came aboard the plane and said a computer would select four people to be taken off the flight. One couple was selected first and left the airplane, she said, before the man in the video was confronted.

 

 

Bridges said the man became "very upset" and said that he was a doctor who needed to see patients at a hospital in the morning. The manager told him that security would be called if he did not leave willingly, Bridges said, and the man said he was calling his lawyer. One security official came and spoke with him, and then another security officer came when he still refused. Then, she said, a third security official came on the plane and threw the passenger against the armrest before dragging him out of the plane.

 

"Everyone was shocked and appalled," Bridges said. "There were several children on the flight as well that were very upset."

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-10/doctor-dragged-united-plane-after-computer-solves-overbooking-problem

 

[Nogib]

Once the authorities are involved, I don't care how badly you WANT to stay on that flight, it isn't going to happen and you should just accept defeat and fight it later.  This dumb fool got what he deserved.

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

A paying customer was forcibly ejected to make room for staff, what he deserved was to fly on the plane he paid for a ticket for.

[Memphis]

Once the authorities are involved, I don't care how badly you WANT to stay on that flight, it isn't going to happen and you should just accept defeat and fight it later.  This dumb fool got what he deserved.

 

Depends, what kind of patients was he seeing? Are lives in danger if he does not arrive? I can tell you what happens when we need a specific doctor or specialist at my hospital that we have missing, we fly them from anywhere and they have to show up or patients could decline or die. Now your probably right chances are he's just a hospitalist and can be filled in for, but still curious to know for sure.

 

[Bryan R.]

That lady in the background is ridiculous. "OH MY GAWD". "Look what you've done to him". You mean look what he did to himself? He had every opportunity to get off knowing he would be required to. Then as the police have to use force, he starts screaming like a child? Get a grip.

[techbeck]

Yea, that is ######.  The Airline should have made different plans for their employees.  Inconveniencing paying customers because of their mistakes is crap.

[Joshie]

11 minutes ago, techbeck said:

Yea, that is ######.  The Airline should have made different plans for their employees.  Inconveniencing paying customers because of their mistakes is crap.

This is hard to agree with without a better understanding of how airlines schedule and assign crew (and I don't have that understanding). I know I've waited through hours of flight delays because the crew assigned to my flight were arriving first from another delayed flight, and it drove me crazy because in my head there had to be such a thing as a plan B for absent flight crew.

 

But then I remembered how even buses in my town work, where a single bus could be delayed into the abyss and there's no concept of "dynamically assigned routes" to the next available bus or something.

 

In the grand scheme of things, with the way airlines work right now, inconveniencing one passenger to maintain a critical chain of scheduled flights later might have been the responsible choice.

[nekrosoft13]

i hope he sues those ######ers for everything they got.

[ATLien_0]

United really f'ed this up. Almost every airline I have flown, the staff members fly standby if the flight is full. For united to force paying customers off and have to get authorities involved just looks really bad. 

[FunkyMike]

United CEO Responds

 

Following the dragging of a doctor from a plane - after he refused to leave when a computer selected him for removal when the airline overbooked the flight - United CEO Oscar Munoz has (finally) responded...

 

Quote

This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers.

 

Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened.

 

We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this further address and resolve this situation.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-10/united-ceo-responds

[+Red King Subscriber²]

Don't overbook

[jnelsoninjax]

That is seriously messed up. A couple was 'selected' as was the doctor, what about the other seat needed? They said they needed 4 seats, and by the math here only 3 were removed...

[Doli]

They knew that it was overbooked before they let people on the plane. They should have let employees on the plane before customers and settle the mess they made at the gate before letting people board the plane.

[Joe User]

2 hours ago, Bryan R. said:

That lady in the background is ridiculous. "OH MY GAWD". "Look what you've done to him". You mean look what he did to himself? He had every opportunity to get off knowing he would be required to. Then as the police have to use force, he starts screaming like a child? Get a grip.

They could have just waited and arrested him when he arrived at the destination.

 

Instead, they choose the idiot's route, now he gets to sue for assault (they'll settle) and United's PR takes a big hit (they'll recover). The "officers" involved will get an unpaid (well deserved) leave.

 

 

[+Warwagon MVC]

2 hours ago, Bryan R. said:

That lady in the background is ridiculous. "OH MY GAWD". "Look what you've done to him". You mean look what he did to himself? He had every opportunity to get off knowing he would be required to. Then as the police have to use force, he starts screaming like a child? Get a grip.

 

My thoughts exactly.

[Ravensky]

5 minutes ago, Joe User said:

They could have just waited and arrested him when he arrived at the destination.

 

Instead, they choose the idiot's route, now he gets to sue for assault (they'll settle) and United's PR takes a big hit (they'll recover).

 

arrest him for what? He did nothing wrong...

[Joe User]

6 minutes ago, Ravensky said:

arrest him for what? He did nothing wrong...

Failing to follow an airline employees direction, it's in the Patriot Act.  "interfering with flight crew" is the term. 

[FloatingFatMan]

3 hours ago, Nogib said:

Once the authorities are involved, I don't care how badly you WANT to stay on that flight, it isn't going to happen and you should just accept defeat and fight it later.  This dumb fool got what he deserved.

NO ONE deserves to be treated like that. Period.  Even less so when they've committed no crime at all.  This entire incident was down to United overbooking the flight, so I hope he sues them into the poor house, they deserve it.

 

[FloatingFatMan]

17 minutes ago, Joe User said:

Failing to follow an airline employees direction, it's in the Patriot Act.  "interfering with flight crew" is the term. 

He didn't interfere with anyone. They interfered with HIM.

 

[mudslag]

3 hours ago, Nogib said:

Once the authorities are involved, I don't care how badly you WANT to stay on that flight, it isn't going to happen and you should just accept defeat and fight it later.  This dumb fool got what he deserved.

 

 

Well this fool is going to get paid. 

[Mr. Gibs]

3 hours ago, Nogib said:

Once the authorities are involved, I don't care how badly you WANT to stay on that flight, it isn't going to happen and you should just accept defeat and fight it later.  This dumb fool got what he deserved.

Did he? This "dumb fool" is going to come out ahead in this. United is going to come out looking like a bunch of morons which is why the CEO has responded to try and do some damage control.

 

By law united has to pay 4x the ticket price upto a limit of $1,350 for people when you get delayed for more than two hours (domestic, 4 hours international) an action that is within their control (overbooking is one of those actions). United knows this, instead they offered $400 and then $800. So yeah maybe United should have followed the law themselves before forcibly removing passengers from a plane and offering them less than they're entitled to (not once but twice).

Quote

(3) Compensation shall be 400% of the fare to the passenger's destination or first stopover, with a maximum of $1,350, if the carrier does not offer alternate transportation that, at the time the arrangement is made, is planned to arrive at the airport of the passenger's first stopover, or if none, the airport of the passenger's final destination less than two hours after the planned arrival time of the passenger's original flight.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/250.5

 

All the airlines know this which is why they try to offer you smaller amounts, vouchers, hotel stays to get around having to pay you. If you accept that, well you're a ######## idiot.

Edited April 10, 2017 by -Razorfold

[Steven P. Administrators]

My thoughts on this earlier today

 

They should be ashamed of themselves, overbooking is their fault and the paying customers are ultimately the losers each time.

[Ravensky]

1 hour ago, Joe User said:

Failing to follow an airline employees direction, it's in the Patriot Act.  "interfering with flight crew" is the term. 

HE didn't interfere with them, they started it... so technically he did nothing wrong and has EVERY right to sue the ###### out of the airline.

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

Whether he was technically wrong or right will be immaterial. This is disaster for their PR. They need to learn that freaking everything will be recorded by 20 people on their phones, and this just looks plain horrible. That appearance is all most people will see; thugs beating a man and dragging him down the aisle. There will definitely be a suit, a massive PR hit, and probably a (slight) change in policy for every airline.

[T3X4S]

3 hours ago, nekrosoft13 said:

i hope he sues those ######ers for everything they got.

Let me get this straight - you are hoping this guy who was dragged out - sues, wins, receives billions of dollars ?