United Airlines ( UAL)

[ET180]

Well you ABSOLUTELY correct! So don't be jealous and don't be sour, if you want a better settlement yourself next time, have the courage to do the right thing including standing up to authority like Dr. Dao did. It's because of Dr. Dao that we uncovered a lot of ugly truth that we would've otherwise never have been able to know and hopefully we will be empowered ourselves a bit more to be not treated like cargos by the airline industry and we are ALL going to get more than free trip and some peanuts from UAL in the future.

And just some background information for you. According to the press conference that was just given by the lawyer hired by Dr. Dao, they weren't supposed to be there and they were ALL instructed NEVER to use the force that they have utilized when no other passengers' lives or safety were jeopardized.

, so yeah in this case the "police" were in the WRONG. Yes in the interest of self-preservation, of course it would be more strategic to just obey the police and then air your grievance later but there are a few people like Dr. Dao who believes that if he's done nothing wrong, he should be able to continue what he's doing and the "police" who weren't supposed to be there in the first place should go away. And yes, for his brave action, in this case he will get a settlement, a generous settlement most likely for what he's been through, a severely broken nose, a concussion, beating to the sinus, loss of 2 front teeth and reconstructive surgeries and publicly humiliated in front of 200+ strangers and now around the world.

How did he sustain bodily injury? You have to hit someone pretty hard to knock out teeth. I don't know all the background about this case, but logically, I see only 2 possibilities.

1. The ticket legally reserved the right to bump people off of flights for reasons that would include United's need to move crew around.

2. The ticket did not legally reserve the right previously mentioned.

If case 2, then the guy has a legal right to protest. Technically, he can peacefully protest anything that he wants if he can accept the consequences. But even if case 2, you still have to follow the orders of the authorities or else be prepared to accept any consequences of resisting. So even if he was in the right, I don't see any reason that would lead to him sustaining injury. Sure, he could have just refused to get up and waited for the police to lift him out of his seat, but even then, he would not have been hurt if they simply carried him off the plane peacefully as many demonstrators do. So if he was injured by resisting more than that, then any injuries are on him. However, if he did not resist more than acting as dead weight and forcing the police to carry him, then he was assaulted and has legal ground for a case.

But if not case 1, then the guy is just a piece of shit. If some of the accusations that I have heard about him regarding how he lost his medical licence are true, then that suggests case 1 is more likely and he's not the brave hero that you're trying to make him out to be.

However, regardless of which case this is, if you think this incident will produce any kind of meaningful change in the airline industry, you'll eventually discover that you're horribly mistaken. As I said before, it's a free market and the airlines give people the service that people are willing to pay for. If you don't want to get treated like shit and possibly bumped off flights, then buy a first class ticket or charter your own plane. Either way, you'll still have to deal with flight delays, cancellations, long lines at the airport, and getting molested by TSA. Nothing any airline can do about that.

 

[ET180]

It'll be interesting to see how it panes out. Would passengers turn on each other to force people to volunteer and end up beating each other up because they are in a hurry? Or would everybody collude to hold out so to force the airline to raise the offer? How slow would the gate agent drag out the time between each offer?

You have a very interesting world view. You use the phrase "turn on each other" like it's passengers vs. airlines. Like we're on one team and airlines are on the other. Or that one passenger would actually assault someone else if they don't volunteer to exit the plane. Do you think other people think that way? Or that several hundred complete strangers could somehow put what might be in their best financial interest aside to penalize an airline for overbooking. I can tell you, no, it wouldn't work. Something like half the people in this country can't write a $500 check. You really think someone in that situation would forsake a week worth of wages in order to attempt to make the airline's overbooking practice more expensive? If airlines don't overbook or were banned from overbooking (such legislation would likely be popular right now), then expect higher ticket prices.

 

[JSOP]

You have a very interesting world view. You use the phrase "turn on each other" like it's passengers vs. airlines. Like we're on one team and airlines are on the other.

What? You REALLY think Corporate America is on our customer side? LOL WHY do you think all the airline CEO's are staying mum and even defending United's CEO after all that United had done? Dragging somebody so violently off the plane just because he wanted to sat in a seat to fly home??!! Seriously??!! Is that an action of a corporation that really cares about its customers? LOL No, if you have not seen this, I will tell you right now. It's ALWAYS US against Them. It's NEVER Them for Us no matter how warm and cozy they make their commercials look to you. Don't be fooled.

Or that one passenger would actually assault someone else if they don't volunteer to exit the plane. Do you think other people think that way? Or that several hundred complete strangers could somehow put what might be in their best financial interest aside to penalize an airline for overbooking. I can tell you, no, it wouldn't work.

Why not? It's not really to penalize an airline; it's to act in one's own financial interest.

Something like half the people in this country can't write a $500 check. You really think someone in that situation would forsake a week worth of wages in order to attempt to make the airline's overbooking practice more expensive? If airlines don't overbook or were banned from overbooking (such legislation would likely be popular right now), then expect higher ticket prices.

If people are so naive and clueless like what you think they are and would jump as soon as cash is offered, then WHY are those airline companies so insist on a maximum of how much they can offer to entice volunteers? WHY are they so afraid to offer more and instead choose to resort to using violence? She could easily call the HQ or whatnot to get an authorization to see if she can offer more instead of calling security right away? What she's looking for kicks on a Sunday afternoon? LOL

 

[dealmaker]

Scorpion stings passenger on United flight

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Scorpion-stings-passenger-on-United-flight-11072075.php

 

[FireWalker]

It was a corporate attack, with follow through, to lower price.

 

[FireWalker]

A fundamental shift occurred at United and others are trying to gain control. There is a possible buy around $55, but I have a feeling the attack is sufficiently coordinated that a plane accident with death will be engineered to pull price lower.

 

[dealmaker]

More turbulence for United, this time with an engaged couple

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/More-turbulence-for-United-this-time-with-an-11077046.php

 

[OddTrader]

It was a corporate attack, with follow through, to lower price.

I noticed one of the attackers praised the company's staff for the teamwork, fairly effectively lowering down the price.

 

[OddTrader]

The firs airline just started testing Robotic flight attendant, immaturely too early:

http://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...t/news-story/e5f4fa49cfaf5d86db1c212aa362b14c

 

[ET180]

What? You REALLY think Corporate America is on our customer side? LOL WHY do you think all the airline CEO's are staying mum and even defending United's CEO after all that United had done? Dragging somebody so violently off the plane just because he wanted to sat in a seat to fly home??!! Seriously??!! Is that an action of a corporation that really cares about its customers? LOL No, if you have not seen this, I will tell you right now. It's ALWAYS US against Them. It's NEVER Them for Us no matter how warm and cozy they make their commercials look to you. Don't be fooled.

I never said that corporations are charitable organizations. It's well understood by many people that they operate for profit and depend on profit to stay in business. This is capitalism and people get the service that they are willing to pay for. You can't expect first class service if you're only willing to pay for coach. These airlines operate on very thin margins and if one is particularly bad, customers will flock to the others (however, in the end it all comes down to price so nothing bad will happen to United as a result of this over the long run). So the airline market is self-regulating given the competition.

As far as booting someone off a plane, United and other airlines would have to be really stupid not to reserve the right to bump anyone off a flight at their discretion. Overbooking will stay because people want cheaper tickets. The policy of how to deal with it is the only thing that should change.

I Said: Or that one passenger would actually assault someone else if they don't volunteer to exit the plane. Do you think other people think that way? Or that several hundred complete strangers could somehow put what might be in their best financial interest aside to penalize an airline for overbooking. I can tell you, no, it wouldn't work.

You replied: Why not? It's not really to penalize an airline; it's to act in one's own financial interest.

So you really think one passenger would potentially threaten to assault a stranger if they don't give up their seat? Like one person would say to another, "You best be steppin' otherwise, I will beat your ass!" <Voice from 2 rows back>: "Yeah, kick his ass Sea Bass!" <Voice from a few rows forward>: "Nah, let's throw him off the plane 15 minutes after take-off!" <Voice from adjacent seat>"His wife and daughter can stay." Sorry, I don't see that as a realistic situation.

If people are so naive and clueless like what you think they are and would jump as soon as cash is offered, then WHY are those airline companies so insist on a maximum of how much they can offer to entice volunteers? WHY are they so afraid to offer more and instead choose to resort to using violence? She could easily call the HQ or whatnot to get an authorization to see if she can offer more instead of calling security right away? What she's looking for kicks on a Sunday afternoon? LOL

Where did I claim that people are naive or clueless? I just said that they will act in what they perceive to be their own personal financial best interest. It's just strange that in one thought you talk about passengers turning on one another to free up a seat and in the next paragraph you talk about having hundreds of passengers collude to get the highest payout from the airline. Even if there was a successful collusion among complete strangers, how would the payout be split up among all the participants in the collusion? Your theories just don't make sense.

I do think that United was being too cheap by offering vouchers instead of cash (offer vouchers first, if no takers, then offer cash). But United did not want violence, the passenger resorted to violence. If he simply resisted peacefully, he would have been carried off the flight by the police without injury. He wasn't a big guy, not hard for 3 people to carry him off the plane.