> Overbooking should be handled at the gate It generally is. No idea why it wasn't in this case. United completely fucked this up in so many ways. Like you sa

> Overbooking should be handled at the gate It generally is. No idea why it wasn't in this case. United completely fucked this up in so many ways. Like you said: 1. The overbooking issue should have been handled at the gate. Deplaning should only be done in extreme circumstances, this was not one. 2. The extra crew should have been boarded on a different flight when they didn't get enough volunteer leavers. 3. A much higher ceiling should be placed on the ticket compensation for the extreme cases, through an auction. I don't know if this is legally possible though, but if it's not I'm sure something can be worked out in miles/free future tickets/etc. Pre-flight deplaning costs a lot more in wasted time/delays and even more when it's forced with extra costs in bad press/publicity, security calls, etc. This is a classic example of wasting millions to save hundreds. 4. Security obviously used excessive force. The entire ordeal should have been halted and the CEO should have immediately spoken against their actions rather than come out supporting them. It's one thing to make idiotic decisions, follow idiotic policies and cost people money. Physical assault is in a completely different ballpark. We have video evidence of what happened -- I hope to see the officer fired and prosecuted. I'm not holding my breath though.