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At the end of the day, this is less about stats and more to do with process. Overbooking happens. So do delays and shitty experiences with airlines. We get it.
by colmvp 10y ago
At the end of the day, this is less about stats and more to do with process. Overbooking happens. So do delays and shitty experiences with airlines. We get it.
The difference was that United had many options at their disposal and chose one of the least humane methods in a civilized society.
Furthermore, the leaked internal memo by the CEO shows a clear lack of empathy and I see a lot of similarities between what happened on the plane and the PR aftermath. In both cases, instead of choosing alternative choices that would come with some cost to the company(increasing the bounty to give up the seat, apologizing profusely for the incident) in exchange for rectifying a situation, they doubled down on bad choices (violent removal, written accusations against the passengers behaviour).
Honestly, this would be non-story had they just upped the compensation to anyone interested in the plane.
And on a side note, it's kind of sad how one of humans greatest technological achievements, the airplane, is associated with one of the least liked experiences in North America, namely going through airports, security, and dealing with airlines.
- cmurf 10y agoAirplanes are great. Airlines used to be great when there was competition. But we've ignored the merit of competition law, and allowed too much conglomeration in the name of profits. And the airlines are very profitable, but they are not competitive in particular on service and customer satisfaction. The last few mergers shouldn't have been permitted.
- AndrewKemendo 10y agoI'd argue that it was competition that made the circumstances you see today - first class of today resembles standard class in the 70s for about the same relative price. Airlines increasingly wanted to grow the flying population, by lowering prices. More people have access to airplanes now, and so they have turned into what was traditionally the service and experience of a bus.
- MagnumOpus 10y agoNah. The experience in a bus: Nobody asks for your ID. You can pay cash. Nobody frisks you when boarding. Nobody irradiates you to watch nude images of you. You don't need to unpack your luggage half the time. You can stow your suitcase in half a minute, and can get it back equally fast. We would be so lucky if flying had the service and experience of a bus!
- AndrewKemendo 10y agoHa, fair point. If you upgrade enough to private then you can get the flying experience of the 50s: Small Planes, no security, walk on the tarmac. It's like paying more puts you further back in time.
- megablast 10y agoYeah, Airlines use to be great when they charged a lot more money. Funny that.
- roystonvassey 10y agoYes, the mergers can only make the customer experience worse. I don't live in the US but I remember when flying last year there were few sectors in which there was only one airline operating (if memory serves right, there was just United between Las Vegas and SF). So, even if I'm disgusted by the way United treats its passengers, I have no choice. The little that I've understood of airlines and their economics, I think the best way out is to nationalise all the airlines and let them be run as a public utility. Introducing capitalistic principles has either kicked off a race-to-the-bottom on prices, miles and treating customers like cattle.
- 5555624 10y agoActually, I would say that the "difference" is that United boarded the entire plane, the tried to get four people to give up their seats. Overbooking happens; but, in my experience, it's dealt with after checking in and before boarding. They make an announcement and ask for volunteers before anyone has boarded the flight. In this case, United boarded the flight without considering the flight crew they needed to put on the flight -- putting them in the situation of removing four passengers.