Fly the Friendly Skies

[JudgeDredd]

Can you imagine what it must've been like for the PR manager for United turning up at work saying good morning to all his staff with everyone just looking into their coffee knowing the shit storm that was going to be flying round the building? 

[mirth]

[Barthheart]

 

[JasonPratt]

I've heard union regulations forced United to handle the incident this way.

Too sick with a head cold to evaluate the coherency of that this morning. Opinions?

[mirth]

I'd like to see the regs that require giving a beat down to passengers. Don't screw with that union.

[Steelgrave]

Gotta be Teamsters  ::)

[bayonetbrant]

I'd like to see the regs that require giving a beat down to passengers. Don't screw with that union.

The union regs covered putting the flight crew on the plane to get to Louisville.
The Chicago cops best the passenger. They're the ones that really screwed that up
United shouldn't have let the guy board
The cops shouldn't have deboarded him that way. Pay for plane tickets for the flight crew to get there some other way and penalize the gate agent who let the passengers board

[Sir Slash]

This is exactly why passengers should be allowed to carry guns on airplanes-- to even-up the odds.    United should go back to the old way of kicking people off their flights. Serve them prune juice at the start of the flight followed by the ejecting toilet seat trick. Simple.

[SirAndrewD]

I'd like to see the regs that require giving a beat down to passengers. Don't screw with that union.

The union regs covered putting the flight crew on the plane to get to Louisville.
The Chicago cops best the passenger. They're the ones that really screwed that up
United shouldn't have let the guy board
The cops shouldn't have deboarded him that way. Pay for plane tickets for the flight crew to get there some other way and penalize the gate agent who let the passengers board

The problem here was that the dead head passengers showed up late to the gate after the plane had already been boarded.  It wasn't overbooked, United just screwed up and realized they needed crew in Louisville and had their people rush to that flight to get them there asap.  The flight had no idea they'd have to make room for four dead heads until they were literally about to taxi out.

After that, United decided to try to lowball the passengers for being bumped.  The $400 and $800 offers were a lot less than the $1350 they were entitled to for being involuntarily removed.  United should've started the bidding around $1500 and not stopped until they had takers.   Small price to pay considering the losses they're going to incur going the way they did.

The rest, as you say, goes to the Chicago Aviation Department police who decided to treat the guy like he was a criminal.   

[Gusington]

The 'removal team' were not cops, they were 'Chicago Aviation Security.' Chicago Police have put out a few releases distancing themselves from 'Chicago Aviation Security.'

[Steelgrave]

The problem here was that the dead head passengers showed up late to the gate after the plane had already been boarded.  It wasn't overbooked, United just screwed up and realized they needed crew in Louisville and had their people rush to that flight to get them there asap.  The flight had no idea they'd have to make room for four dead heads until they were literally about to taxi out.

After that, United decided to try to lowball the passengers for being bumped.  The $400 and $800 offers were a lot less than the $1350 they were entitled to for being involuntarily removed.  United should've started the bidding around $1500 and not stopped until they had takers.   Small price to pay considering the losses they're going to incur going the way they did.

The rest, as you say, goes to the Chicago Aviation Department police who decided to treat the guy like he was a criminal.

Ya gotta scroll up sometimes, brother. You're a couple of days behind the news curve  8)

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."

[mirth]

The 'removal team' were not cops, they were 'Chicago Aviation Security.' Chicago Police have put out a few releases distancing themselves from 'Chicago Aviation Security.'

Yeah. CPD wants nothing to do with this shit show.

[Gusington]

^They have enough on their plate.

[Nefaro]

^They have enough on their plate.

No kidding. 

Weiner is probably still in town.

[mirth]

^They have enough on their plate.

Indeed.