Ever thought that this headline was a "shit happens" event?
2017-04-09 Passenger Violently Removed From Overbooked United Airlines Flight
And sometimes one can be unlucky twice?
2017-04-12 United is Heavy-Handed Again: Boarded, Seated Passenger Threatened With Cuffs to Disembark
No! United Airlines is at third strike right now 2017-04-15:
* A couple says they were kicked off a United flight on the way to their wedding
* A bride and groom were kicked off their United Airlines flight from Houston this weekend as they traveled to Costa Rica for their wedding.
Td;lr: Married couple finds their seats in economy class taken up by a sleeping man. By courtesy they just sit down on seats three rows away which happened to be in economy plus class on a flight which is half empty. They asked to upgrade but were refused and then headed to their assigned seats. However by then the airline had decided that they were rule breakers and must be thrown off regardless.
Details: United Airlines flight number 1737 on 2017-04-15. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston, Texas) on Saturday to Liberia, Costa Rica.
Last time after the second incident, the stock took a fall from 69.8 to 69 US$ (UAL). One can ask how much this will cost in market value decimation and in customers dropping them? What will the economist and MBA, CEO, Oscar Muñoz say?
Related Stories
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.
Previous: Days After United Settlement, Baggage Handler Locked in Cargo Hold on NC-to-DC Flight
On the heels of United's heavy-handed removal of a booked passenger comes another wonderful piece of news from United:
Fearns needed to return early so he paid about $1,000 for a full-fare, first-class ticket to Los Angeles. He boarded the aircraft at Lihue Airport on the island of Kauai, took his seat and enjoyed a complimentary glass of orange juice while awaiting takeoff.
Then, as Fearns tells it, a United employee rushed onto the aircraft and informed him that he had to get off the plane.
"I asked why," he told me. "They said the flight was overfull."
Apparently, due to technical problems, a different plane was used that had slightly fewer seats. So fewer first class seats. So why bump off a first class passenger?
"That's when they told me they needed the seat for somebody more important who came at the last minute," Fearns said.
Seriously, United?
KTLA TV in Los Angeles reports Video Shows American Airlines Flight Attendant Telling Passenger "Hit Me" After Taking Stroller From Mother
Video of an altercation on an American Airlines flight [April 21] shows an airline employee challenging a passenger to hit him after a flight attendant violently grabbed a woman's stroller [(pram)], according to eyewitnesses.
It's unclear what happened before passengers on flight 591 from San Francisco to Dallas/Ft. Worth started recording, but video shared on Facebook shows a sobbing mother clutching a young child toward the front of the plane, asking employees to give back her stroller.
According to multiple witnesses, the woman, who is from Argentina and was flying internationally, brought her stroller on the plane. When the flight attendant attempted to remove the stroller from the plane, there was an altercation which resulted in the stroller striking the woman and nearly hitting her child.
[...][Passenger and witness Olivia] Morgan said she talked to the woman about the incident. The woman said a female flight attendant told her she could look for space to store the stroller because it folds up very small, but if there was no available space, she would need to check it at the gate.
"She was looking for space when the male attendant tried to take it away from her... and she said she told him the other attendant had told her it was okay to look", [Morgan] said.
We had two Soylentils submit stories about a family being ordered off a plane by Delta Airlines.
Forced off a Delta Plane and for Keeping Their Seat
A California family used the seat their 18-year old son didn't use because he left with an earlier flight. They made use of it for their child instead, but were forced off the Delta Air Lines plane and threatened with jail after refusing to give it up on the crowded flight..
View all the raw glory or do it with some commentary.
In other news don't use the bathroom, ask for water, or be autistic.
Last time it was United Air's Abuses: Doing the Heavy-Handed Thing a Third Time.
Delta Airlines: "Give Up the Seat or You're Going to Jail"
AlterNet reports
Brian Schear, of Huntington Beach, said he and his family were flying overnight from Hawaii to Los Angeles last week when [Delta Airlines] employees asked them to give up the seat where their 2-year-old son was sitting, reported KABC-TV.
[...] "You have to give up the seat or you're going to jail, your wife is going to jail and they'll take your kids from you," Schear recalled the flight attendant saying.
Delta employees wanted the family to hold the young child in their laps during the flight, but Schear argued that they had bought the boy a ticket because he needed to sit in his car seat to sleep.
An employee inaccurately told the family the boy needed to sit in a seat with an adult, because the airline's website recommends that children under 2 years old should sit in an approved child seat in a ticketed seat of their own.
The entire family was ordered off the plane, and they stayed overnight in a hotel and bought new tickets the following day, reported KTLA-TV
BTW, can someone tell me what ecver= in a YouTube URL means?
Previous:
Male American Airlines Flight Attendant Hits Mother of Twins with Stroller
United Air's Abuses: Doing the Heavy-Handed Thing a Third Time
Passenger Violently Removed From Overbooked United Airlines Flight
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday April 18 2017, @11:36PM (10 children)
I'm sure that I have changed seats mid-flight when there were many empty rows. It's hard to pull you off the plane at that point. The self-upgrade is what got them here...
So what do you get in United Economy Plus seats? Apparently 3-5 inches more leg room. And then there's this [frommers.com]:
Also, are we getting bored of bashing United yet?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday April 19 2017, @12:37AM
Also, are we getting bored of bashing United yet?
Nope :) I remember as a kid seeing the T-shirt ads in National Lampoon, one was 2 geese, one right behind the other doggy style, with the logo "Fly United".
/ A 13 y/o classmate had a shirt from TWA
// TWA repeated over and over
/// TWATTWATTWATTWAT, to hit you over the head.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 4, Informative) by kaszz on Wednesday April 19 2017, @03:20AM
Also, are we getting bored of bashing United yet?
Not at all. There are so much feathers and tar to be used in public. It has went from oops, wtf? to circus! ;-)
And any airline that thinks that well behaved passengers can be treated with broken teeth, concussion and dragging while unconscious deserve to get their months in court of public mocking.
OT, Belkin the malicious router manufacturer is another one that we haven't forgotten [wikipedia.org] about.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday April 19 2017, @03:38AM (1 child)
Also, are we getting bored of bashing United yet?
Not me. I've hated those fuckers since 2000 and they're not getting any love from me, ever.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @05:18AM
I last flew United in 2000. Even back then it felt like visiting a 3rd world country.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @03:38AM
I was on a United bus from LAX to IAD recently. An entire exit row was free. Some guy asked whether he could move there and was gruffly told "No, you have to pay extra for those." I felt sorry for the people that continued on to LHR.
American corporations have lost their business sense.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Wednesday April 19 2017, @04:48AM (1 child)
I had a bad experience on KLM. I paid extra for a seat in economy that was in a row of two instead of a row of 3. This was a transatlantic flight, so many hours sitting down.
What they did not tell me was that the seat for which I had paid extra did not recline. I paid extra to sit in a less comfortable seat. What a ripoff!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @07:17AM
Rookie mistake. You have to know which seats are good. For example, "exit" seats have extra legroom while the row in front of them doesn't recline.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday April 19 2017, @08:08AM (2 children)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 20 2017, @07:22AM (1 child)
Which brings us to the interesting part. The couple allegedly were willing to pay for an upgrade, but instead United decides to throw them out.
So a customer is saying "take my money!" and the UA staff kicks them off the plane. How retarded is that?
As far as I know kicking a passenger off the plane costs more in time and resources than just taking their $$$ for an upgrade, especially if they have checked in luggage.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday April 20 2017, @07:59AM
Which brings us to the interesting part. The couple allegedly were willing to pay for an upgrade, but instead United decides to throw them out.
That's the weirdest part of this. The recorded announcement on United flights at the start says 'economy plus seats are for our Mileage Plus Permiere members and the customers who have paid for those seats. If you would like to purchase an Economy Plus seat, please ask a member of the cabin crew'. They have a procedure in place for people to buy the seats, so it's very odd that they didn't permit it in this case.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 18 2017, @11:40PM (3 children)
Don't bitch to me, bitches. I've been boycotting air travel since 2001. As far as I'm concerned, either the TSA can be abolished or the airline industry can go out of business permanently. I don't care which.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @07:29AM
Putting the Poo In Putting: United Airlines hasn't seen ticket sales suffer from passenger-dragging incident yet, analyst says [marketwatch.com] i.e., buy stocks now. Or maybe this is fake news? Who knows?
(Score: 3, Touché) by TheRaven on Wednesday April 19 2017, @08:11AM (1 child)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 21 2017, @09:55AM
The TSA did an enhanced pat-down on me...I've decided to keep the baby.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by driverless on Wednesday April 19 2017, @12:30AM (1 child)
He told KUTV-TV that they cooperated because video of Dr. David Dao being dragged off a United Express plane April 9 was fresh in their minds.
Obviously their plan is working, all they need to do is brutalise a few more of their customers pour encourager les autres and then let's see anyone try and step out of line. Damn customers, who do they think they are?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday April 19 2017, @02:19PM
United doesn't brutalize customers. It re-accommodates them.
Quit being to negative and see the bright side. At least United isn't re-accommodating people after the plane is in flight.
If you don't give up your seat, I will re-accommodate you to a bloody pulp and drag you off this plane.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @12:36AM (7 children)
If the couple could move to an upgraded seat, the plane wasn't full.
Sounds like United was just unhappy that they would not stay in the Comfort-- seats for no good reason.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @01:04AM (6 children)
If the plane wasn't full, they could have moved into a non-upgraded seat, but they repeatedly tried to upgrade themselves. I can't say I'm too sympathetic for them. It sounds to me like they were taking advantage of the other situation.
(Score: 3, Informative) by sjames on Wednesday April 19 2017, @01:30AM (4 children)
So?
Ever see two siblings, one starts playing with the toy the other hasn't even looked at in a year and suddenly "MINE!!!! YOU CAN'T PLAY WITH IT!". That's United.
In contrast, the last time I flew Southwest, the plane was nearly empty. We were encouraged to spread out and take up 3 seats each if we wanted. It's not like it changes the cost any.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @03:21AM (2 children)
Your sibling comment aside, it still doesn't excuse their entitled behavior, particularly making themselves out to be the abused victims ("of course we complied" give me a break).
On your Southwest flight, the reason you were asked to spread out was to distribute the weight across the plane.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Wednesday April 19 2017, @04:01AM
No, Southwest just didn't see why we should squash ourselves into one seat rtather than relax and have a really nice flight. We were already well enough distributed.
As for United, there was no good reason for them to even care where the couple were seated as long as it wasn't in a seat someone else present was ticketed for, especially since they were already apparently letting someone sleep on both of their seats.
Between the two airlines, I know which one I will prefer next time.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @04:43PM
it still doesn't excuse their entitled behavior, particularly making themselves out to be the abused victims ("of course we complied" give me a break).
United described as "disruptive and belligerent" the doctor that they concussed, knocked some teeth out of and dragged off the plane. There was plenty of videos showing what actually happened. After that, why in the world would you put any faith in United's description of the events in this case?
Frankly the evidence indicates that the veracity of United is less than the veracity of some random passengers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @08:42AM
It's not like it changes the cost any.
It's "unrealized profits"; already claimed by MBAs to be theirs & theirs alone. You not giving them the money is infringing upon their rightful ownership of that profit. In other words, you are a thief!
You'd think I'm making this shit up, but I am not. This is not only how they really think but how they are trained to think!
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday April 19 2017, @02:16PM
but they repeatedly tried to upgrade themselves.
According to United. According to the man in question, they did not. He said, she said, basically.
Note the tail end of this video [khou.com] - it has a doozy:
the next day, the couple was on a flight that (again) wasn't full. After takeoff, "the flight attendant told passengers there were plenty of empty seats, and they could move if they wanted."
It's not clear from the video or the article that their replacement flight was United again. If it was: what the fuck, United?
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday April 19 2017, @12:42AM (6 children)
yeah the stock is down but United Airlines is not going away.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by richtopia on Wednesday April 19 2017, @12:51AM (3 children)
I had the same thought last Monday! But for some reason the stock is just going lower.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday April 19 2017, @03:13AM (2 children)
On Monday they went from 69.05 to 70.77 but.. on Tuesday their stock price went from 70.77 to 67.75 US$. Down -4.3% in one day so keep up the good work! ;-)
Their stock will be priced at 0.01 US$ in 203 days if they keep up at the Tuesday rate.
Popcorn!
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday April 19 2017, @09:40PM (1 child)
Their stock will be priced at 0.01 US$ in 203 days if they keep up at the Tuesday rate.
https://xkcd.com/605/ [xkcd.com]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday April 20 2017, @01:36AM
Yeah, I know. On the other hand they are now beyond just a temporary dip.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @04:47AM
In fact, if the company fails, you lose the value of the stock, but UAL gets bailed out.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday April 19 2017, @01:18PM
And if you planned to buy UAL anyway, this would be a better time to buy than before the mess started IMHO.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @12:52AM (5 children)
...any of the Bushes have an airport named after them? Aren't they all still alive? Didn't we at least wait until he died before we started naming things after Regan?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @01:17AM (1 child)
George Bush (biblical scholar) (1796–1859), American biblical scholar and preacher
George Bush (racing driver) (1911–1967), American NASCAR driver
George Washington Bush (1779–1863), first African-American settler in what is now Washington State
Take your pick. It's a common name.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @02:08AM
Via wikipedia:
"In April 1997, Houston City Council unanimously voted to rename the airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport/Houston, after George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States."
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 19 2017, @01:20AM
Star Wars didn't happen, but the Gulf War did.
(Score: 3, Funny) by KiloByte on Wednesday April 19 2017, @03:43AM
Then what about a crapload of buildings (especially towers), an airline, and so on, so on, named after someone who's a president for mere three months?
Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday April 19 2017, @04:10PM
I think he's probably more happy about the aircraft carrier. Before I looked it up I thought it was going to be one of the Gerald Ford-class ones.
USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is the tenth and final Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy.[1] She is named for the 41st President of the United States and former Director of Central Intelligence George H. W. Bush, who was a naval aviator during World War II. Bush's callsign is Avenger, after the TBM Avenger aircraft flown by then-Lieutenant George Bush in World War II. Construction began in 2003[6] at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard's Dry Dock 12, the largest in the western hemisphere.[7] She was completed in 2009
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_George_H.W._Bush [wikipedia.org]
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Touché) by The Shire on Wednesday April 19 2017, @05:06AM (8 children)
The report was that the couple sat in seats in eco plus, where asked to move to their own seats, which they did, but then they went back to the higher class seats again. Repeat this twice more and that's when the flight crew had had enough and kicked them off the plane for being a disturbance. UA isn't at fault here, the couple is.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @05:21AM (1 child)
Please don't confuse us with the facts. This is SoylentNews.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @03:57PM
And his statements are more factual because?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by RedBear on Wednesday April 19 2017, @07:24AM (3 children)
Yes, because corporate employees who feel their job might be at risk would never invent "extra" facts to support their own actions. That's literally never happened. Ever.
There are in fact conflicting reports about exactly what happened, which is why we all need to start recording every interaction we ever have with any corporate or government employee, period. Personally I have seen so many egregious examples in recent years of authority figures being caught on camera blatantly fabricating elaborate false scenarios to support their rash decisions that I am strongly inclined to give most people at least a 60/40 split versus anyone in any position of authority over others. Let's take the Dr. Dao assault as an example. The United CEO came out early on and proclaimed that what staff had done was all right and proper because the customer was being disruptive and belligerent, no doubt simply repeating what a chain of underlings told him about the incident in order to support their own actions. Meanwhile all the non-United-staff witnesses on the plane and later a video clearly showed Dr. Dao being quite calm and polite just before he was violently assaulted. He lost a couple of teeth, required surgery and had a concussion, by the way, in case you haven't been paying attention.
In that context, unless these people were already drunk before they boarded or are the most brazen people alive, I have trouble believing they would deliberately disobey the instructions of the flight crew THREE TIMES before the flight even had a chance to take off. I don't think it's rational to accept that part of United's story at face value without some other non-company witnesses backing it up. United also claimed that the couple refused to pay the difference in fares and were just trying to engage in deliberate ticket fare fraud to get themselves a free upgrade, while the couple claims that they asked if they could pay for the upgrade and were refused the opportunity to do so. Again I would bet with at least a 60/40 split that it was the couple who got much closer to telling the unvarnished truth here while the United staff have engaged in significant embellishment of the facts.
We may never know for sure because in this case we didn't have a dozen witnesses recording what happened. But it is certainly rational to use the past behavior of an organization's employees to help us decide whether to be overly credulous of the factual nature of statements released by that organization.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @07:39AM
And women/wives.
(Score: 2) by chewbacon on Wednesday April 19 2017, @01:25PM (1 child)
They could just be assholes. There are people out there who try to block cars traveling 70mph down freeways in protests (at night!) and if one of them gets hit they blame the driver. You don't think it could be possible there are such people who would feel entitled and unreasonable on an airplane? But none of us were there, so I will stand down to avoid becoming a Facebookesque-expert.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @04:52PM
They could just be assholes.
They could be. But without knowing more about them personally, you have the word of a random couple versus the word of an airline company that is not only known to lie, but to have done so about a similar situation in the very recent past. Without more information, I'd tend to side with the passengers.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday April 19 2017, @02:25PM
I can see United's side in this. If there were higher class (eg, more expensive) seats that were unused for this flight. It would impose significant costs upon United if passengers booked into lower priced seats were to sit in these unused higher priced seats. How could United stay in business if they allowed this sort of thing to happen. /s
Go back to your assigned seats and remember your place. Otherwise I'll have to get some police thugs in here to re-accommodate you!
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday April 19 2017, @08:59PM
I was looking through a few stories, but all I could see was that United claimed that. The couple's story on the altercation is different.
Do you have a link to someone other than United corroborating this turn of events?
After recent United stories, I'm not inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
(Score: 2) by jcross on Wednesday April 19 2017, @03:29PM
1. See a few news stories in a row about United being assholes.
2. Short United stock.
3. Pay/encourage a couple folks to provoke United into being assholes yet again.
4. Watch the news pick up the new story to keep the click-train rolling.
5. Profit!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 20 2017, @01:51PM
United's website calls him Munoz, not Muñoz. Sorry for having called him Muñoz before!