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NPR reports
Passengers on a United Express flight from Chicago to Louisville, Ky., were horrified when a man was forcibly removed--violently wrenched from his seat and physically dragged down the aisle. [...] Videos of the scene have prompted calls to boycott United Airlines.
[...] The Chicago Department of Aviation [...] says the actions of the security officers were "not condoned by the Department" and that one individual has been placed on leave pending a review.
[...] Passengers had already boarded on Sunday evening [April 10] at O'Hare International Airport when United asked for volunteers to take another flight the next day to make room for four United staff members who needed seats.
The airline offered $400 and a free hotel, passenger Audra D. Bridges told the Louisville Courier-Journal. When no one volunteered, the offer was doubled to $800. When there were still no bites, the airline selected four passengers to leave the flight--including the man in the video and his wife.
"They told him he had been selected randomly to be taken off the flight", Bridges said.
[...] The man said he was a doctor and that he "needed to work at the hospital the next day", passenger Jayse D. Anspach said.
[...] Both Bridges and Anspach posted videos of three security officers, who appear to be wearing the uniforms of Chicago aviation police, wrenching the man out of his seat, prompting wails. His face appeared to strike an armrest. Then they dragged his limp body down the aisle.
Footage shows the man was bleeding from the mouth as they dragged him away. His glasses were askew and his shirt was riding up over his belly.
"It looked like he was knocked out, because he went limp and quiet and they dragged him out of the plane like a rag doll", Anspach wrote.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday April 12 2017, @03:48PM (15 children)
I had a great idea to make money. Buy a united ticket to wherever and hope for an overbooked flight. Wait until they start offering money and hold out until you double your ticket price or more. Volunteer to get off plane. Get paid and buy another ticket on a hopefully overbooked flight. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. Profit.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by EvilSS on Wednesday April 12 2017, @03:59PM
(Score: 2) by BsAtHome on Wednesday April 12 2017, @04:02PM
You missed one step. This list should read:
1 - buy overbooked flight
2 - get out when offered more than ticket price
3 - ...
4 - ... Profit!
I guess step 3 involves violence if you use United. But you're already getting out at step 2, so it may involve "magic" instead.
This would really be a literal YMMV situation ;-)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 12 2017, @04:05PM (2 children)
I have a more profitable idea that requires less work. Start the same but refuse to get off the flight, even after you've been "randomly selected". Wait for the police to crack your face open and forcibly remove you. Wait some more for the media to attempt to defame your character [independent.co.uk] before you're even out of hospital. Finally - get a good lawyer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 12 2017, @04:13PM (1 child)
As if a criminal record would somehow make human rights violations ok?
Such moral relativism is a signature symptom of poor character.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 12 2017, @11:25PM
This has absolutely nothing to do with moral relativism.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 12 2017, @04:16PM
Check your process. If you rinse before washing you're wasting your effort. No profit for you.
The successful process is: lather, rinse, repeat. Only then may profit be achieved.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Dunbal on Wednesday April 12 2017, @04:27PM (5 children)
You get paid in vouchers. It's the equivalent of store credit. Don't know how you're going to make money with that.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday April 12 2017, @05:19PM
Sell the vouchers?
(Score: 4, Informative) by tynin on Wednesday April 12 2017, @05:39PM (3 children)
That's actually incorrect. They'll attempt to offer you vouchers, because they can. But you can refuse and ask for cash. It is DOT law.
https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights [transportation.gov]
Specifically:
Those travelers who don't get to fly are frequently entitled to denied boarding compensation in the form of a check or cash.
and
If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (400% of your one-way fare, $1350 maximum).
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 12 2017, @08:13PM
If it's not worth UA paying a few kilobucks to get passengers willingly off the plane then perhaps it's not worth that much for their staff to be on that plane. They can take another plane maybe even a competitors. Or a bus.
The thing is, the victim was not denied boarding at the counter, he was "denied boarding" after he had already boarded and was peacefully sitting in his seat.
People can twist the rules all they like but it's still as retarded as a hotel violently dragging out a paying guest from his room just so hotel staff can sleep in it. Doesn't matter whatever bullshit rules are cited, it's still barbaric. And barbarians would think the perps of such stuff would "need killing" ;). In many old cultures hospitality to strangers is quite important.
It's completely different from the scenario if the guest was still at the counter and the hotel/airline apologized and told him there wasn't room for him and they will refund him and give him some vouchers.
That the CEO can make the remarks he made shows why UA staff are that crap. I've seen posts from ex-UA staff defending UA's actions too, so I'm sure most have been trained to be that crap. So I wouldn't ever fly UA unless they somehow dragged me onboard and knocked me unconscious...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Wednesday April 12 2017, @08:22PM (1 child)
Almost nobody knows the actual rules. I was surprised they could offer cash as well, and even more surprised that they had to pay me at all.
I volunteered once since I'm a big guy and they were *paying* me to get off a full flight and booked onto a not so full flight. Got rolled since they somewhat lied and it took an additional 4 hours and two flights. I did not have to fight for seats and overhead bins though, and that's what I really wanted.
Still, I only paid $59 bucks to begin with having paid months in advance and they gave me well over $700 in transferable credits. I did the math and that was a fantastic deal for me. Since they transfer, it could help out a relative or friend, so another bonus.
Technically, I can fly for free for years now if I just stick to the cheap tickets :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 14 2017, @02:32PM
Seems the UA staff themselves don't really know the rules and neither do the officers.
http://www.newsweek.com/why-united-were-legally-wrong-deplane-dr-dao-583535 [newsweek.com]
http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/united-cites-wrong-rule-for-illegally-de-boarding-passenger/ [lawnewz.com]
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/04/11/united-denied-boarding-illegal/ [boardingarea.com]
Furthermore the amount the UA staff offered was laughable and in vouchers.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/250.9 [cornell.edu]
(Score: 2) by deadstick on Wednesday April 12 2017, @06:50PM
There are people who actively work that angle -- usually business travelers whose schedules are flexible. It takes some careful planning, but it can net you some money and perks now and then.
(Score: 2) by SDRefugee on Wednesday April 12 2017, @07:41PM (1 child)
I had to fly from Houston to Las Vegas back last October, and my boarding pass said the flight *might* be overbooked, and after finding out that it was not *quite* overbooked but rather 100% FULL, I wish to hell it HAD been overbooked as I would have taken a bump with PLEASURE after seeing what the 2 1/2 hours of HELL was like.. A United A321 with coach seats that drove my knees painfully hard into the seat ahead of me. I'm 6' 1" and had never ridden in a coach seat that was this unconfortable.. I see why they call em AIRBUS... Prior to this fiasco, every airline trip I'd ever taken was via a Boeing aircraft.. I see why that "If it aint Boeing I aint going" came from......
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday April 12 2017, @08:03PM
Aircrush? ;)