Im also going to need 4 volunteers to take over some westgate timeshare ownerships from the marketplace.
I think we have our first volunteer! =DYou would have to drag me, kicking and screaming, to the closing on those.
HAHAHA!!! Today I hate everything in the world except Brian's post looking for Westgate volunteers. Well done!
You hate everything in the world? That's a lot of hate for sure.
Does the doctor's past really have anything to do with this? I don't think so. He is a human being and was treated badly after paying money for a seat. That is how I see it.
As for cancelling the entire flight, that sounds rather childish. "Well, if you won't play the game, we are done with all of you."
I posted what i did about his background in response to the post that called him "the good doctor." I said I was sympathetic to him but he is not really Mr. Clean and I think people see it that way. He is a paying customer-that alone means he should be treated with respect but don't think he is not without his own history. If that history is correct, I feel less sympathetic to him than I otherwise would.
The idea of canceling the flight is not as unreasonable as you may think. It solves the problem and then United can do what they want including offering a new flight but with restricted access. Of course, you would not do this all the time but it would work in a heirarchy of actions to avoid this PR disaster. Of course soliciting "volunteers" for pay outs up to FAA limits would be a first step, but additional procedures need to be in place if that is ineffective. Canceling the flight altogether would empty the plane without incident. Many people blame United CEO, Munoz for this, but the truth is he is much better than his predecessor. I used to be a UA 1K but stopped flying them due to customer service issues.
What i think is wrong is that the airport police are suspended for doing what they were ordered to do. They were told to get him off the plane and I don't think they were given any conditions. Also once it started not a single UA employee said stop or tried to intervene. It is a case of the little guy paying the price for the action they were ordered to do.
United will have to settle this and probably not at trial. The Dr. Has one of the top lawyers in the nation representing him. As an attorney, I can tell you he will get a substantial money settlement that will mean he will never have to work again. I am sure the press conference is a tactic to improve the chances of that huge settlement.
You're telling me!
I finally finished scraping the wallpaper in two rooms, getting them ready for the painters to come in next week. Now I can concentrate on our granddaughter's first birthday this weekend (where does the time go?!?!) and how to get out of Brian's forced Westgate purchase.
On the idea of cancelling the flight and getting everyone off:
The flight crew and the crew needing to travel would have the plane to themselves
... along with a lot of liquor bottles. Party time!
A pilot's wife tells another side of the story. (So this guy was forced off after he ran back into the plane???)
https://thepilotwifelife.wordpress....thoughts-from-a-pilot-wife-about-flight-3411/
A pilot's wife tells another side of the story. (So this guy was forced off after he ran back into the plane???)
https://thepilotwifelife.wordpress....thoughts-from-a-pilot-wife-about-flight-3411/
Not so strange if you've suffered a concussion. He wanted to go home, that's what he kept saying. He knew the way home was that plane.This was written by someone who claims to be A pilot's wife, not THE pilot's wife. So I am not sure why it should be considered any more accurate than any of the millions of opinion posts that are on the internet right now.
And no, he was dragged off the plane initially, and then ran back on the plane - kind of a strange thing to do IMNSHO.
Exactly.Exactly. I don't care if it was the Pope or Charles Manson. Not relevant.
This is the scary thing! My 84-yr-old mother is deaf in one ear. They could be demanding compliance on "her wrong side" and take it as non-compliance and rough her up. This is troubling stuff.Or what would have happened if one of the four "randomly selected" passengers who were asked to give up their seat ended up being an 83-year-old lady who had a cut rate ticket with no frequent flier status? I'm guessing the gate agent would have found a different "solution".
Find a reasonable solution vs resorting to violence.What should an airline do when a person who gets bumped ultimately refuses to leave the aircraft?
I think I will hold out for the bean bag seats in the cargo hold...In the midst of all of this furor, I think we should give credit to the United management for recognizing the PR disaster they created and adroitly figuring out a way to turn it positive. Knowing that what passengers really want is low fares, they are introducing a new fare class with their absolutest lowest ticket prices. It's going to be class KO; passengers in this class will be subject to forced removal. Passengers will now be able to choose between "red-eye" and "black-eye" flights.
I understand that they've hired the guy who used to do the Verizon "can you hear me now?" commercials to be the spokesperson for the new fare. They're prepping some ads that will show him sitting in various planes, greeting the flight crew with hands to his face, saying, "Can you beat me now?"
Pretty savvy way to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, don't you think?
because with that head injury, he may never work again.I am shocked by the number of posts siding with United. No human being, who is not in the process of committing a crime, should be treated in this way, let alone a paying customer. I hope the doctor gets a good lawyer and receives enough compensation to insure a comfortable, maybe even luxurious, retirement.
I would rather take my beat down on my next United flight.Im also going to need 4 volunteers to take over some westgate timeshare ownerships from the marketplace.
Some argue this parsing of words is irrelevant and that the airline's contract of carriage is meant to be applied more broadly. Not true. Airlines are required to present bumped passengers with the written document explaining their rights. I would not bet on the success of a legal argument that begins, "what the document intended to express."
Then perhaps the overbooking and bumping for flight crew will end. Just as (most) everyone has a price at which they will agree to be bumped, there is also a choice of max rate of what to pay for your seat in the first place, or not fly. It will be the overbookers that customers turn away from with extremely high prices. High price + high chance of bump? No thanks, I'll take a sure seat at a lower price elsewhere. And United might try that, too, Guaranteed Seat Pricing, a whole new way to extort! If that plane is leaving, you're on it. Maybe that gets popular, narrowing the bump pool. Maybe a GSP holder that agrees to be bumped gets extra bump perks that are dbl the worthless flight bucks.Because if upping the ante is the only solution that anybody is comfortable with, and every flyer learns that the airlines'/gate agents' only option is to keep upping the ante, eventually the bump compensation is going to soar into the stratosphere and every single new threshold is going to result in ticket prices soaring ever higher. Taking away the airlines' right to involuntarily remove passengers when things get stupid is not the answer.
What should an airline do when a person who gets bumped ultimately refuses to leave the aircraft?
Sorry but there is always someone who will get off a flight if you offer enough. $800 for me- to miss a day of work? I'm sorry, I would lose way more in income that that with a day off work.
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@SueDonJ, you are concerned about the delays of maybe 100 people on a single flight out of Louisville. But remember that physician who was dragged off the flight may have had 20 appts booked that next day, so you're automatically inconveniencing at least 20 people, perhaps more. Also the physician's office staff who have to work late some other day that week, and each one of their childcare providers, and the employers of the patients who must now give the employee another few hours off to get to the doctor.
And so on. This is why it is way better to offer compensation until you have volunteers. Passengers have a much better sense of how urgently each of them needs to get to their destination. Miss your mother's funeral? Not worth $800. Miss two midterm exams? Not worth $800. Miss a day of work when you are a solo practitioner MD? Not worth $800. Get home a day late when you're retired? Worth $800 or $1000 for sure. Or a college student with no exams? Or even an employee at a regular place of employment where you're a cog who can be done without for a single day with little impact? Those people will eventually bite if you offer enough. Do it and avoid the miserable publicity.
Find a reasonable solution vs resorting to violence.