They're just following the status quo at this point. Can't expect our security services to act any more responsibly or compassionately than the people above them. That kind of calm and rational leadership has to come from the top. Oh, right.
I guess two wrongs really do make a right. <_<
Regardless of whatever disingenuous pandering nonsense they may say in the future, I think that comes pretty close to settling United's true position on this matter. So far as the top brass are concerned official procedures were followed, the customer is unilaterally in the wrong for refusing to give up his paid (and even acquired) seat in line with the severe power imbalance created by UA's lopsided contract of carriage. According to UA's head honcho there was nothing else that could be done but to call in security to aggressively and violently mop up their self-inflicted mess after apathy and indifference failed to get the job done.
A lot of people have a past. What's that got to do with what happened? Did they access his criminal history before they ejected him? Are our pasts now subject to airline employee scrutiny?
Nope, but the world is up in arms about the "Poor Sweet Doctor" who got a beatdown for not listening to the cops. That poor sweet doctor is a convicted felon and contributing to the drug addiction problem of Appalachia taking money and sex as payment. My point? EVERYONE is jumping to conclusions. Do we even know what the doctor said to the cops??? No one seems to have caught that on camera. People are ready to lynch the cops and the airline based on NON fully investigated incident and in China according to news, their social media is up in a roar because a Chinese Man(He is Vietnamese) got a beatdown.
Poor sweet doctor?
I disagree; United has to pay for damaged freight....
I don't buy that ethnicity or character has any bearing on this incident. People of every ethnicity are entitled to the same constitutional and civil rights as all the rest of us. If he wasn't a nice guy so what? As long as he behaves while aboard the plane, this is irrelevant.
If I'm sitting on that plane I'm pissed the guy won't get off like the other three did, that overbooking causing someone to get off happens a lot more often than you think. Anytime you buy a ticket you may overlook it, but you are advised the plane may be over booked.
Turns out the flight wasn't overbooked. Deadhead crew apparently showed up at last minute after the plane had been loaded. This whole thing was terribly mishandled. From the last minute crew boarding to a supervisor who handled the announcement very badly to calling in the airport security police who totally over reacted. Interesting, the airport security police, who are not part of the Chicago police department, have been arguing to be armed. That whole proposal, which had some city council support, has blown up in their face. It seems like suspensions are in order for whoever ordered the deadhead crew to board an already full plane and the supervisor who handled the whole situation. Whoever wrote the first p.r. statement and then Munuoz's "our employees did nothing wrong" statement also need some time off. Munoz's head may have to roll, too, but since he's a CEO he'll get a very golden parachute. The whole thing is an object lesson for how not to deal with the public.
Don't be silly. Nobody here is saying those passengers should have used the current trains which are painfully slow, or actually don't exist.
I suspect most folks on any given CHI-Louisville flight are connecting from somewhere else, so improved rail service may not have that much affect on the number of empty seats on those flights. It would probably draw folks who are currently driving, but that's purely a guess.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-united-low-priority-passenger-20170412-story.html
Gate agent would have been United. Deadheading crew likely, based on size and route, Republic. If Republic, assuming it was their crew, waited to the last minute to assign that deadhead for reasons not including wx, mx, other reasons beyond their control, this whole thing falls on them. I've worked for a United Express carrier, and I've seen these scheduling schennigans before.
For obvious reasons airlines don't like building deadhead legs into their crew schedules. It takes away revenue seats, plus crews get paid, normally half rate or more, for time spend in transit. When this does happen, it's normally because something like weather, mechanical problems, crew duty limitations, sick calls, or similiar throws a monkey wrench into things. Ideally the second you know you need to move crew, you block out those seats from the reservation system.
There just aren't many ways to get from Chicago to Louisville, other than via commercial airline, currently. I’ve heard some say they could have put the deadhead crew on Greyhound. But no matter how much one may like Greyhound, they don’t operate between CHI & LVL. Megabus does, but then you’re dealing with the Spirit/Allegiant Air of the bus world, along with the customer service record of United. Another commentary on the state of our interior transportation system.
Thanks for that tidbit; it might explain why the company headed by this person seems to view revenue passengers as ‘freight that talks’.
In regards to his prior offenses, the pharmaceuticals in question were shared between two individuals (including himself) and were not sold for money. This is probably why his medical license was restored on a limited basis starting in 2015. Most state medical licensing boards take a dim view of narcotics offenses generally and are unwilling to allow someone to continue the practice of medicine who could be a danger to the general public.
As a matter of fact, he has two of them, both from Chicago; one of whom specializes in aviation law. On Wednesday, actions were filed in Cook County Court requesting an injunction against UA which seeks to preserve all communications as it relates to the incident.
That is within the realm of possibilities. My crew once needed a last minute deadhead leg on a Q400, there were four of us and only three open seats. The gate agent asked if one of us could take the cockpit jumpseat, we said yes, the captain said it was fine, so it worked out beautifully. This may or may not have been a possibility on the flight to SDF.
