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I hate to be the one to point this out, but this is a case where people vote with their wallets for the absolute cheapest product, and then are angry to get wha

I hate to be the one to point this out, but this is a case where people vote with their wallets for the absolute cheapest product, and then are angry to get what they paid for. They buy discounted non-refundable inflexible strings-attached fares, and then are shocked to discover than when push comes to shove, strings are attached (such as lowest priority on rebooking). If you absolutely need to get there on time, or need flexibility, buy a non-discounted fare. Yes, it costs more, but you will be at the head of the line if there is a mechanical problem, weather cancelation, equipment replacement, etc, all of which the airline has limited control over. Also, a bit of perspective, the last US commercial airline accident with fatalities was in 2009, and tens of millions of people have traveled safely to their destination since then, not so with any other mode of transportation.

pyre 10y ago
> then are shocked to discover than when push comes to shove, strings are attached (such as lowest priority on rebooking). ...except in this case, United was in the wrong and hoping that no one would notice. There were no "strings" attached, though they want you to believe that there were. I mean we're talking about United bumping paying customers who are already boarded and sitting in their seats from a non-overbooked flight to make room for employees from another airline.
colmvp 10y ago
I'm unclear how a procedure that might be illegal is related to buying a cheap ticket. We're talking about a man who bought a ticket, legally boarded a plane, and then was forcefully removed AFTER boarding. The CEO remarked: The man was removed because employees were following the “involuntary denial of boarding process.” How do you deny boarding to someone who is already boarded? United says its denial of boarding provisions only apply in the event of an “oversold flight." United defines oversold flights as: > A flight where there are more Passengers holding valid confirmed Tickets that check-in for the flight within the prescribed check-in time than there are available seats. Employees are not considered "passengers holding valid confirmed tickets that check-in for the flight within the prescribed check-in time." To reinforce this reality, the CEO admitted that the flight was not oversold. But most importantly, there are different laws for customers pre-board and after you've board the plane. There's a very specific set of rules that allow United to kick a boarded passenger off a plane(Rule 21 Refusal of Transport), but there's overwhelming evidence that none of it applied to Dr. Dao.
stordoff 10y ago
I'm not convinced said strings were attached, more that they were added afterwards. The passenger was in a position to fly, and was removed for reasons that the airline had absolute control over. There was zero reason to remove him from the flight other than United deciding they had a better use for the seat (which if we accept, should we start expecting United to remove people from flights if someone shows up offering to pay more? I'm not convinced there's a material difference between the two cases).

pyre 10y ago

> then are shocked to discover than when push comes to shove, strings are attached (such as lowest priority on rebooking). ...except in this case, United was in the wrong and hoping that no one would notice. There were no "strings" attached, though they want you to believe that there were. I mean we're talking about United bumping paying customers who are already boarded and sitting in their seats from a non-overbooked flight to make room for employees from another airline.

colmvp 10y ago

I'm unclear how a procedure that might be illegal is related to buying a cheap ticket. We're talking about a man who bought a ticket, legally boarded a plane, and then was forcefully removed AFTER boarding. The CEO remarked: The man was removed because employees were following the “involuntary denial of boarding process.” How do you deny boarding to someone who is already boarded? United says its denial of boarding provisions only apply in the event of an “oversold flight." United defines oversold flights as: > A flight where there are more Passengers holding valid confirmed Tickets that check-in for the flight within the prescribed check-in time than there are available seats. Employees are not considered "passengers holding valid confirmed tickets that check-in for the flight within the prescribed check-in time." To reinforce this reality, the CEO admitted that the flight was not oversold. But most importantly, there are different laws for customers pre-board and after you've board the plane. There's a very specific set of rules that allow United to kick a boarded passenger off a plane(Rule 21 Refusal of Transport), but there's overwhelming evidence that none of it applied to Dr. Dao.

stordoff 10y ago

I'm not convinced said strings were attached, more that they were added afterwards. The passenger was in a position to fly, and was removed for reasons that the airline had absolute control over. There was zero reason to remove him from the flight other than United deciding they had a better use for the seat (which if we accept, should we start expecting United to remove people from flights if someone shows up offering to pay more? I'm not convinced there's a material difference between the two cases).