Fly the Friendly Skies

[mirth]

[mirth]

Heh. Even Merriam Webster got a shot in

https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/851602942037819392

[bayonetbrant]

scroll up 4 posts, amigo

[mirth]

scroll up 4 posts, amigo

no

[trailrunner]

Both my United flights back from Kauai yesterday and today were overbooked.  However, they got bona fide volunteers to give up their seats, with no kicking, screaming, or youtube-worthy moments of despair.

[bayonetbrant]

http://secondnexus.com/politics-and-economics/united-passenger-totally-legal/?utm_content=inf_10_1164_2&tse_id=INF_5d3221501ec011e7952abb19e3a2d0d6

[DoctorQuest]

^A comment from that article and this is what I wondered about. How the hell did they let "overbooked" passengers board???

"People who read this story need to be aware of this! This was NOT a normal overbook situation. A normal one would be resolved by the gate agents before anyone boards the plane via voluntary or involuntary giving up of seats. This was caused by the airline trying to squeeze crew member in to the destination to work on a flight the next day, AFTER the plane has already boarded."

I am not sure this person knows what they are talking about but it does make you wonder if the gate crew REALLY messed up.

[OJsDad]

My daughter and I were talking about this when the news was on.  I made 2 points to her.

1.  The overbooked passengers should never have been allowed on the plane.  Thus, that's on United.
2.  When the TSA came on board and told the passenger to leave the plane, he needed to do that.  It's no different when a person get pulled over by a cop and then ignores everything they're being instructed to do. 

[DoctorQuest]

My daughter and I were talking about this when the news was on.  I made 2 points to her.

1.  The overbooked passengers should never have been allowed on the plane.  Thus, that's on United.
2.  When the TSA came on board and told the passenger to leave the plane, he needed to do that.  It's no different when a person get pulled over by a cop and then ignores everything they're being instructed to do.

Yup. Agree on both points.

[Steelgrave]

Apparently the flight was not overbooked. The flight was full but was delayed when four United crewmembers showed up saying they needed to catch the flight in order to make their own flight on time. At that point United decided to remove four paying passengers to make room for the United employees. Also, United may have violated Federal law by the way they removed the passengers. Lastly (and it may have no relevance legally) it wasn't TSA who removed the passenger, but instead local Chicago Aviation Security Officers, which some have described as basically working for the airlines and other articles have labeled "unarmed Security officers". The Chicago Police Department has already issued statements putting distance between themselves and these Aviation Security Officers.

From the article:

"The whole incident seems to have arisen from an unusual situation unanticipated by the airline. United says the flight was already fully boarded when four crew members approached the gate, saying they needed to board the plane to get to Louisville, where the flight was headed."


https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/uniteds-real-mistake-173844672.html

[MikeGER]

i've read the flight was only from Chicago to Louisville

.... a quick google search revealed that's only 300 miles (street) and 4:40 drive ? 
(the UA 3411 flight takes 2:22   ...now add time margins for getting to the airport with a cab, check-in lane, security-procedure-lane and boarding-hall and baggage claim later it gets almost close to the drive)

when the situation unfolded with no volunteers United could have even set the 4 crew members to transport in a comfy van taxi or charter a small privat propeller plane (an "air taxi" service or "sight seeing" service from a local small biz) with a transport capability of 4,
i am sure such services (or just a privat pilot who owns a plane and likes to earn some bucks) must exist in Chicago, with the big lake, landscape and all ?     

[bayonetbrant]

[bayonetbrant]

[Steelgrave]

While this incident may be a catalyst for customer revolt against United, it seems to be far from the only case. Several have started to pop up in the news, including this one, where a first class passenger who was already seated and had a drink, was threatened with being handcuffed and dragged off the plane if he didn't give up his seat for a latecomer. Worse, United's response was equally as tone-deaf as "re-accommodating passengers":

http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-united-low-priority-passenger-20170412-story.html

[mirth]

^wow  :o