Passenger Dragged off United Airlines Flight In Chicago

[Genivaria]

Fun fact: He was on the phone with his Lawyer and his Lawyer said that he should stay on the plane because United was offering an amount of money below the legally required minimum amount, and if he disembarked he would no-longer be entitled to the legal minimum amount. Not only that, but when they removed him they went straight to having a large group of men grab him, slam his head into an armrest knocking him unconscious, and dragging his limp body off the plane before he later returned to the plane with his face covered in blood.

Sounds like outright (as in not even borderline) criminal behavior to me.
Arrest these thugs.

[Galloism]

Fun fact: He was on the phone with his Lawyer and his Lawyer said that he should stay on the plane because United was offering an amount of money below the legally required minimum amount, and if he disembarked he would no-longer be entitled to the legal minimum amount. Not only that, but when they removed him they went straight to having a large group of men grab him, slam his head into an armrest knocking him unconscious, and dragging his limp body off the plane before he later returned to the plane with his face covered in blood.

Source for all this?

[Farnhamia]

Fun fact: He was on the phone with his Lawyer and his Lawyer said that he should stay on the plane because United was offering an amount of money below the legally required minimum amount, and if he disembarked he would no-longer be entitled to the legal minimum amount. Not only that, but when they removed him they went straight to having a large group of men grab him, slam his head into an armrest knocking him unconscious, and dragging his limp body off the plane before he later returned to the plane with his face covered in blood.

You would think that by now, security personnel and police would understand that everyone has a video camera. Everyone.

[Genivaria]

Fun fact: He was on the phone with his Lawyer and his Lawyer said that he should stay on the plane because United was offering an amount of money below the legally required minimum amount, and if he disembarked he would no-longer be entitled to the legal minimum amount. Not only that, but when they removed him they went straight to having a large group of men grab him, slam his head into an armrest knocking him unconscious, and dragging his limp body off the plane before he later returned to the plane with his face covered in blood.

You would think that by now, security personnel and police would understand that everyone has a video camera. Everyone.

They are aware, that's why some cities and/or states have made recording police a crime for some reason.

[Luziyca]

Fun fact: He was on the phone with his Lawyer and his Lawyer said that he should stay on the plane because United was offering an amount of money below the legally required minimum amount, and if he disembarked he would no-longer be entitled to the legal minimum amount. Not only that, but when they removed him they went straight to having a large group of men grab him, slam his head into an armrest knocking him unconscious, and dragging his limp body off the plane before he later returned to the plane with his face covered in blood.

You would think that by now, security personnel and police would understand that everyone has a video camera. Everyone.

Which is why the police kinda frown upon filming them.

[Genivaria]

You would think that by now, security personnel and police would understand that everyone has a video camera. Everyone.

Which is why the police kinda frown upon filming them.

'Frown on it' As in "Turn that off before I arrest you."

[Farnhamia]

You would think that by now, security personnel and police would understand that everyone has a video camera. Everyone.

They are aware, that's why some cities and/or states have made recording police a crime for some reason.

But it'll still get done and it'll still get out there. The police can arrest me all they want as long as the video gets out to where people can see it.

[Saiwania]

If an airline wants you off of the plane, you really ought to get off voluntarily. You can always get a refund or fight them via the legal system later. If you wind up having to miss an important event, that is just the way it has to be. Why not simply reschedule? People will understand if you absolutely couldn't make it somewhere in time. By flying, you agree to at least cooperate with the wishes of the flight crew by default. No different than a driver's license requiring a driver to take an alcohol test if pulled over for suspected DUI.

[Farnhamia]

If an airline wants you off of the plane, you really ought to get off voluntarily. You can always get a refund or fight them via the legal system later. If you wind up having to miss an important event, that is just the way it has to be. Why not simply reschedule? People will understand if you absolutely couldn't make it somewhere in time.

Yes, when it's someone with a real need to have your seat. Airline employees deadheading doesn't cut it.

[San Lumen]

If an airline wants you off of the plane, you really ought to get off voluntarily. You can always get a refund or fight them via the legal system later. If you wind up having to miss an important event, that is just the way it has to be. Why not simply reschedule? People will understand if you absolutely couldn't make it somewhere in time.

Yes, when it's someone with a real need to have your seat. Airline employees deadheading doesn't cut it.

I agree. It makes the whole situation even more ridiculous. The airline should not put its employees over its customers. Get them other means of transport.

[Saiwania]

Yes, when it's someone with a real need to have your seat. Airline employees deadheading doesn't cut it.

People are free to disagree but flying could be thought of as a privilege. It is the company's airplane and crew, so they do whatever they want with these assets within reason. I'm not a customer who believes that the world should revolve around me 100% of the time just because I've paid for service. A company choosing to give employees priority can be bad for customer service but oh well. If I don't get what I want it is a minor inconvenience at worst.

I'd get off, book the next available flight with a different airline if need be, and get on with my life. Not cause a big scene. Questions of getting a refund or into any legal dispute with the airline can always come later.

[Infected Mushroom]

Yes, when it's someone with a real need to have your seat. Airline employees deadheading doesn't cut it.

People are free to disagree but flying could be thought of as a privilege. It is the company's airplane and crew, so they do whatever they want with these assets within reason. I'm not a customer who believes that the world should revolve around me 100% of the time just because I've paid for service. A company choosing to give employees priority can be bad for customer service but oh well. If I don't get what I want it is a minor inconvenience at worst.

I'd get off, book the next available flight with a different airline if need be, and get on with my life. Not cause a big scene. Questions of getting a refund or into any legal dispute with the airline can always come later.

I like this approach.

[The Corparation]

Yes, when it's someone with a real need to have your seat. Airline employees deadheading doesn't cut it.

I agree. It makes the whole situation even more ridiculous. The airline should not put its employees over its customers. Get them other means of transport.

Problem. Those airline employees were probably not deadheading on the flight so they can take trip to scenic Louisville. They were very likely en-route to crew a flight departing from Louisville later that day. If they didn't reach Louisville that flight would then need to be delayed until a new crew could be found and sent to Louisville. From the airline's point of view the need to have another entire flight depart on time trumps a few passengers getting home on time. I'd think the passengers on the second flight would also probably agree.

[Tarlag]

Here is where United screwed up. Never, ask people to deboard an aircraft. They should of handled the matter before anyone got on the plane. There most likely would of been a lot less drama and the police would not of had to been called. On a pure customer service level they dropped the ball. Now their CEO doubled down on backing what their employees did and that will only make matters worse.

For the cost of a rental car for that flight crew they have a massive public relations nightmare.

[The Corparation]

Here is where United screwed up. Never, ask people to deboard an aircraft. They should of handled the matter before anyone got on the plane. There most likely would of been a lot less drama and the police would not of had to been called. On a pure customer service level they dropped the ball. Now their CEO doubled down on backing what their employees did and that will only make matters worse.

For the cost of a rental car for that flight crew they have a massive public relations nightmare.

Renting the flight crew a car does not guarantee that they reach their destination in time. It also means that the crew would have to work after driving for five hours straight. Getting a flight crew to their flight in time and making sure they're well rested when they get there is more than worth the cost of rebooking those passengers and paying them a bonus.

[Neutraligon]

Yes, when it's someone with a real need to have your seat. Airline employees deadheading doesn't cut it.

People are free to disagree but flying could be thought of as a privilege. It is the company's airplane and crew, so they do whatever they want with these assets within reason. I'm not a customer who believes that the world should revolve around me 100% of the time just because I've paid for service. A company choosing to give employees priority can be bad for customer service but oh well. If I don't get what I want it is a minor inconvenience at worst.

I'd get off, book the next available flight with a different airline if need be, and get on with my life. Not cause a big scene. Questions of getting a refund or into any legal dispute with the airline can always come later.

Except one thing , they bought (or rented if you want) the seat. The airline may be the owner of the aircraft, but while the passenger is in that seat after having rented it they have the right to that seat (within certain fairly limited limitations). I would claim that it is the airline who was the problem due to them failing to fulfill their end of the rental contract.

[Neutraligon]

Here is where United screwed up. Never, ask people to deboard an aircraft. They should of handled the matter before anyone got on the plane. There most likely would of been a lot less drama and the police would not of had to been called. On a pure customer service level they dropped the ball. Now their CEO doubled down on backing what their employees did and that will only make matters worse.

For the cost of a rental car for that flight crew they have a massive public relations nightmare.

Renting the flight crew a car does not guarantee that they reach their destination in time. It also means that the crew would have to work after driving for five hours straight.

Or they could hire a cab/bus to get them to the location so they can sleep on the way.

[Farnhamia]

Here is where United screwed up. Never, ask people to deboard an aircraft. They should of handled the matter before anyone got on the plane. There most likely would of been a lot less drama and the police would not of had to been called. On a pure customer service level they dropped the ball. Now their CEO doubled down on backing what their employees did and that will only make matters worse.

For the cost of a rental car for that flight crew they have a massive public relations nightmare.

Renting the flight crew a car does not guarantee that they reach their destination in time. It also means that the crew would have to work after driving for five hours straight.

Hiring a driver is probably going to cost less than the bad publicity will. I won't fly United after this.

[SchoolHouse Rock]

The passenger should have taken the money when he had the chance. He got too greedy. Now he has to deal with the disgrace of being filmed while getting dragged out like a screaming kid (no doubt highly traumatic) for the rest of his life. I feel sorry for him. They may even make a movie about this highly sensitive matter.

The fact of the matter is, regardless of whether or not United had a right to do what it did, it had the POWER to do so. The police was on their team (in the incident). The passenger miscalculated the situation, he should have played it safe, taken the money and left rather than stand up the American Passenger Aircraft Mafia.

From what was shown and reported, he didn't care about the money. His primary concern was getting to were he needed (or wanted) to be. The delay was too costly in his own perspective. He valued his time over the money. United could've compensated as much money as they wanted to him, but he still would've found the delay too costly. This is what bothers me about United in this story: they didn't take the customer needs or wants into consideration. They just saw him as a hindrance and not a consumer of their product.

This is what's bothering me about a lot of the comments in this thread. A lot of people are talking about the money but are not taking the guy's perspective into consideration. He could've been on a tight schedule. What would money to leave matter if the time with your patients and their health is of more value?

And yes, I know he mentioned going home. Note that his doctor's office could be in his hometown, or that he was disorientated from, you know, getting his head slammed.

[Sareva]

Renting the flight crew a car does not guarantee that they reach their destination in time. It also means that the crew would have to work after driving for five hours straight.

Hiring a driver is probably going to cost less than the bad publicity will. I won't fly United after this.

More reasons why Delta and American Airlines are better.

[The Corparation]

Renting the flight crew a car does not guarantee that they reach their destination in time. It also means that the crew would have to work after driving for five hours straight.

Hiring a driver is probably going to cost less than the bad publicity will. I won't fly United after this.

Hiring a driver would probably cost less than what the expected cost to rebook the passengers. (Which is several thousand dollars factoring in potential hotel costs) The cost of driving to Louisville really doesn't matter though because there is still no guarantee that you can arrange a car to get them there in time for the flight.

There's nothing unreasonable about an airline kicking people off the plane so that they can have other flights run on time. The unreasonable thing here was Airport police violently removing the man. I'm doubtful that the airline staff expected it to end this way.

[Farnhamia]

Hiring a driver is probably going to cost less than the bad publicity will. I won't fly United after this.

Hiring a driver would probably cost less than what the expected cost to rebook the passengers. (Which is several thousand dollars factoring in potential hotel costs) The cost of driving to Louisville really doesn't matter though because there is still no guarantee that you can arrange a car to get them there in time for the flight.

There's nothing unreasonable about an airline kicking people off the plane so that they can have other flights run on time. The unreasonable thing here was Airport police violently removing the man. I'm doubtful that the airline staff expected it to end this way.

Oh, I'm sure they didn't, but they didn't intervene to help the poor guy being dragged away, either. I suppose it happened rather quickly, but a flight attendant going, "Hey, wait, don't do that!" would have been nice. Seems like the four United employees got shit from the passengers the entire way down to Louisville, where the flight from O'Hare arrived three hours late.

[SchoolHouse Rock]

Here is where United screwed up. Never, ask people to deboard an aircraft. They should of handled the matter before anyone got on the plane. There most likely would of been a lot less drama and the police would not of had to been called. On a pure customer service level they dropped the ball. Now their CEO doubled down on backing what their employees did and that will only make matters worse.

For the cost of a rental car for that flight crew they have a massive public relations nightmare.

Renting the flight crew a car does not guarantee that they reach their destination in time. It also means that the crew would have to work after driving for five hours straight. Getting a flight crew to their flight in time and making sure they're well rested when they get there is more than worth the cost of rebooking those passengers and paying them a bonus.

While a valid point, what about the value of the time of the passengers? Sure they got money, but who's to say they didn't miss important events because they themselves where delayed? I agree that the flight crew should be treated properly, but does that mean you should ignore your customer's needs and concerns?

[SchoolHouse Rock]

People are free to disagree but flying could be thought of as a privilege. It is the company's airplane and crew, so they do whatever they want with these assets within reason. I'm not a customer who believes that the world should revolve around me 100% of the time just because I've paid for service. A company choosing to give employees priority can be bad for customer service but oh well. If I don't get what I want it is a minor inconvenience at worst.

I'd get off, book the next available flight with a different airline if need be, and get on with my life. Not cause a big scene. Questions of getting a refund or into any legal dispute with the airline can always come later.

I like this approach.

I feel like that's to saying that if you were invited over to someone's house, or you asked to come over and they said yes, that they have the right to throw you out through the closed window at any point.

Sure it's a privilege to fly on an airline, but is it ethical for any company to use violence to solve an issue?

[Proctopeo]

I just want to point out that he could be considered trespassing.

If someone's on your property, and they're no longer allowed to be on it, and they won't get off of it, what do you do?

Simple: call the police and hope they don't do something over-the-top. A tazing might have made more sense than the (reported) hitting-his-head-against-a-thing, especially if he was becoming a danger, but the general concept of "get law enforcement to remove him from the location" makes sense. At least to me.