Post: #1

A man wouldn’t leave an overbooked United flight. So he was dragged off, battered and limp.

Quote:United Airlines says a man wouldn’t give up his spot on an overbooked flight Sunday.

So, according to witnesses and videos of the incident, he was pulled screaming from his seat by security, knocked against an arm rest and dragged down the aisle and back to the terminal at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

United refused to answer questions about the incident, which horrified other passengers on the Louisville-bound flight. An airline spokesman only apologized for the overbooked flight, and said police were called after a passenger “refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily.”

What happened was captured on cellphone video by at least two passengers.

Tyler Bridges recalled trouble starting almost as soon as he and his wife boarded.

An airline supervisor walked onto the plane and brusquely announced: “We have United employees that need to fly to Louisville tonight. … This flight’s not leaving until four people get off.”

“That rubbed some people the wrong way,” Bridges said.

Passengers were offered vouchers to rebook, he said, but no one volunteered.

So the airline chose for them.

A young couple was told to leave first, Bridges recalled. “They begrudgingly got up and left,” he said.

Then an older man, who refused.

“He says, ‘Nope. I’m not getting off the flight. I’m a doctor and have to see patients tomorrow morning,’” Bridges said.

The man became angry as the manager persisted, Bridges said, eventually yelling. “He said, more or less, ‘I’m being selected because I’m Chinese.’”

A police officer boarded. Then a second and a third.

Bridges then began recording, as did another passenger — as the officers leaned over the man, a lone holdout in his window seat.

“Can’t they rent a car for the pilots?” another passenger asks in the videos.

Then the man, out of frame, screams.

One of the officers quickly reaches across two empty seats, snatches the man and pulls him into the aisle.

“My God!” someone yells — not for the first time.

He goes limp after hitting the floor.

“It looked like it knocked him out,” Bridges said. “His nose was bloody.”

His glasses nearly knocked off his face, the man clutches his cellphone as one of the officers pulls him by both arms down the aisle and off the plane.

“This is horrible,” someone says.

“What are you doing? No! This is wrong.”

And with that, Bridges said, four United employees boarded and took the empty seats.

They were not popular among the passengers, he recalled.

“People were saying you should be ashamed to work for this company,” Bridges said.

And it wasn’t over.

In another video, the man runs back onto the plane, his clothes still mussed from his forcible ejection, frantically repeating: “I have to go home. I have to go home.”

“He was kind of dazed and confused,” Bridges said. He recalled a group of high school students leaving the plane in disgust at that point, their adult escort explaining to other passengers: “They don’t need to see this anymore.”

The airline eventually cleared everyone from the plane, Bridges said, and did not let them back on until the man was removed a second time — in a stretcher.

In the end, Bridges and his wife got to Louisville about three hours late.

“It was a pretty tense flight,” he said.

United Chief Oscar Munoz later tweeted that everyone at the airline was upset about the incident.

Munoz, by the way, is slated to be honored as tonight as “Communicator of the Year” by PRWeek.

There's video and whatnot at the link.

It's too bad United Airlines didn't think to offer some better incentive than "vouchers to rebook". That's frankly a slap in the face, if you're already on the goddamn plane.

Chicago to Louisville is only 300 miles, too, it ain't like they were flying across the Pacific.

I have no idea if their actions were legal. Probably. But boy, what a fuckup. Just rent a goddamn car for the employees, or offer to sent passengers via limo or something if they give up their seats. Offer $1000 cash plus voucher, do anything but bring the police in. WTF did they think was going to happen once the cops were on board? If the passenger tells the cops no, they're not going to cooperate, the only card the cops have left is using violence to get compliance.

Post: #2

Most likely was a deadheading (re-positioning) crewmember who needed to be in position to operate another flight. I guarantee you it wasn't some employee on personal travel or non-essential personnel. One guy gets inconvenienced to allow 80+ others go. This happens every day.

If the airline tells you to get off, get off. If the cops tell you to get off... you're a fucking idiot if you don't. That drama queen phaggot deserved the ass beating and hopefully gets cited with felony failure to obey crewmember instructions.

Post: #3

It's unacceptable how this was handled and the whole ordeal should be a PR nightmare for the airline.

United should have upped the monetary incentive to get people off of the flight.

It was obvious the $800 voucher wasn't enough for people to voluntarily give up their seat. How about $1000, $1200, etc? At $1500, I would have given up my seat.

United fucked up when they were renting out seats on their planes to people who paid.

Post: #4

If they'd said "Hey, we'll pay for a limo with wet bar to Louisville (which would've cost < $2000) if you and your wife get off" I guarantee people would've been fighting to take that deal.

Post: #5

(04-10-2017 01:32 PM)weambulance Wrote:  A man wouldn’t leave an overbooked United flight. So he was dragged off, battered and limp.

Quote:United Airlines says a man wouldn’t give up his spot on an overbooked flight Sunday.

So, according to witnesses and videos of the incident, he was pulled screaming from his seat by security, knocked against an arm rest and dragged down the aisle and back to the terminal at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

United refused to answer questions about the incident, which horrified other passengers on the Louisville-bound flight. An airline spokesman only apologized for the overbooked flight, and said police were called after a passenger “refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily.”

What happened was captured on cellphone video by at least two passengers.

Tyler Bridges recalled trouble starting almost as soon as he and his wife boarded.

An airline supervisor walked onto the plane and brusquely announced: “We have United employees that need to fly to Louisville tonight. … This flight’s not leaving until four people get off.”

“That rubbed some people the wrong way,” Bridges said.

Passengers were offered vouchers to rebook, he said, but no one volunteered.

So the airline chose for them.

A young couple was told to leave first, Bridges recalled. “They begrudgingly got up and left,” he said.

Then an older man, who refused.

“He says, ‘Nope. I’m not getting off the flight. I’m a doctor and have to see patients tomorrow morning,’” Bridges said.

The man became angry as the manager persisted, Bridges said, eventually yelling. “He said, more or less, ‘I’m being selected because I’m Chinese.’”

A police officer boarded. Then a second and a third.

Bridges then began recording, as did another passenger — as the officers leaned over the man, a lone holdout in his window seat.

“Can’t they rent a car for the pilots?” another passenger asks in the videos.

Then the man, out of frame, screams.

One of the officers quickly reaches across two empty seats, snatches the man and pulls him into the aisle.

“My God!” someone yells — not for the first time.

He goes limp after hitting the floor.

“It looked like it knocked him out,” Bridges said. “His nose was bloody.”

His glasses nearly knocked off his face, the man clutches his cellphone as one of the officers pulls him by both arms down the aisle and off the plane.

“This is horrible,” someone says.

“What are you doing? No! This is wrong.”

And with that, Bridges said, four United employees boarded and took the empty seats.

They were not popular among the passengers, he recalled.

“People were saying you should be ashamed to work for this company,” Bridges said.

And it wasn’t over.

In another video, the man runs back onto the plane, his clothes still mussed from his forcible ejection, frantically repeating: “I have to go home. I have to go home.”

“He was kind of dazed and confused,” Bridges said. He recalled a group of high school students leaving the plane in disgust at that point, their adult escort explaining to other passengers: “They don’t need to see this anymore.”

The airline eventually cleared everyone from the plane, Bridges said, and did not let them back on until the man was removed a second time — in a stretcher.

In the end, Bridges and his wife got to Louisville about three hours late.

“It was a pretty tense flight,” he said.

United Chief Oscar Munoz later tweeted that everyone at the airline was upset about the incident.

Munoz, by the way, is slated to be honored as tonight as “Communicator of the Year” by PRWeek.

There's video and whatnot at the link.

It's too bad United Airlines didn't think to offer some better incentive than "vouchers to rebook". That's frankly a slap in the face, if you're already on the goddamn plane.

Chicago to Louisville is only 300 miles, too, it ain't like they were flying across the Pacific.

I have no idea if their actions were legal. Probably. But boy, what a fuckup. Just rent a goddamn car for the employees, or offer to sent passengers via limo or something if they give up their seats. Offer $1000 cash plus voucher, do anything but bring the police in. WTF did they think was going to happen once the cops were on board? If the passenger tells the cops no, they're not going to cooperate, the only card the cops have left is using violence to get compliance.

They offered a $400 voucher, then upped it to $800. No takers, then they went random lottery.

"He goes limp after hitting the floor."

Looks like he went limp briefly after hitting the armrest on the opposite side when they were wrestling with him. You know what fool proof method I've found for not bouncing off objects when bouncers or cops are wrestling with me? I don't wrestle with the bouncers, I walk out with dignity when asked to leave their property.

Looks like he was hamming it up for effect the whole time, and got a bunch of people to buy into it. If he's getting dragged "unconscious" then how come he won't drop his cell phone. If it hurt so much to wrestle that he had to scream like a girl, why wrestle at all? Just go with them.

Post: #6

(04-10-2017 01:37 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  It's unacceptable how this was handled and the whole ordeal should be a PR nightmare for the airline.

United should have upped the monetary incentive to get people off of the flight.

It was obvious the $800 voucher wasn't enough for people to voluntarily give up their seat. How about $1000, $1200, etc? At $1500, I would have given up my seat.

United fucked up when they were renting out seats on their planes to people who paid.

Even though the guy is a faker and a scam artist, he's a good scam artist and they should indeed offer more if nobody is willing to be bounced for $800.

Post: #7

I have very little doubt in my mind that man is a homosexual.

Post: #8

Every single passenger should have gotten off the plane

Post: #9

Thank goodness the passenger was someone disposable like an East Asian male doctor, and the cops black and latino-looking. If the passenger were a criminalistic "youth," Muslim rapefugee, or sorority girl--and the cops white--the shrieking and howling from the PC-liberal complex would render the internet and social media un-usable for a few days.

Since BLM is definitely about precepts (correctness of precepts aside) and not "who? whom?" we can expect some protests/riots calling for the black and latino cops' heads, right?

Post: #10

(04-10-2017 01:34 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Most likely was a deadheading (re-positioning) crewmember who needed to be in position to operate another flight. I guarantee you it wasn't some employee on personal travel or non-essential personnel. One guy gets inconvenienced to allow 80+ others go. This happens every day.

If the airline tells you to get off, get off. If the cops tell you to get off... you're a fucking idiot if you don't. That drama queen phaggot deserved the ass beating and hopefully gets cited with felony failure to obey crewmember instructions.

Meanwhile, in the "Colorado Police Bodyslam Sorority Girl" thread from yesterday

(04-09-2017 01:12 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Agreed. No one, male or female, deserves missing teeth or serious injuries for being a drunk and obviously not being a risk. Any cop worth his salt could of deescalated that situation and made an arrest without violence. A night in the drunk tank and public intox ticket is the appropriate punishment.

Post: #11

Meanwhile, over at Delta...

One Family Earned $11,000 By Not Flying Delta During Delay-Filled Weekend

Quote:If you had somewhere to be this weekend and booked to fly with Delta Air Lines, there’s a decent chance you either arrived late, never made it, or had to fly another carrier — all thanks to lingering cancellations and delays brought on by a storm. Yet Delta’s nightmarish weekend was a windfall for some frequent fliers, like one family who scored more than $11,000 by choosing to not fly Delta.

Travel editor Laura Begley Bloom wrote about her experience with Delta in an article for Forbes, noting that her family profited from the airline’s travel woes as they tried to make it from New York to Florida.

For those unaware of Delta’s recent issues, powerful storms led the airline to cancel around 3,000 flights beginning last week and into the weekend.

In an update on Saturday, the airline apologized for the “disruption and continued difficulty reaccommodating those whose travel had been affected by the lingering impact of this week’s storms.”

While the airline attempted to placate some passengers with multi-airport pizza parties, the cheese pies can only create so much goodwill for frustrated passengers.

According to Begley Bloom, her family received a bit more than pizza when they were unable to fly out of New York over the weekend.

She thought they might miss the chaos Friday, as the storms had already passed, but she was wrong and they endured hours of delays. The airline eventually began offering money to volunteers to give up their tickets for the family’s overbooked flight.

At first, they weren’t tempted enough to give up their trip to Florida, but when the compensation jumped to $900 a ticket in retail gift cards, she began thinking of taking the option.

They eventually negotiated a price of $1,350 per ticket to give up their seats on the flight — a total of $4,050 — and headed home for the night after rebooking for Saturday.

When they returned Saturday, they found the flight was already delayed and the airline was offering compensation for those willing to give up their seats. The family once again played the waiting game, that is until Delta offered $1,300 per ticket. When you include the $15/each for lunch, and a $50 roundtrip taxi ride, the family made about $4,000 on Saturday alone.

Rebooking for Sunday, however, became a problem. With the family drained, they asked if they could just forgo the trip altogether. This garnered them another $1,000 per person, plus the original cost of the three tickets.

“We accepted Delta’s offer and went home, sad to miss our trip, but not so sad about the lucrative results,” Begley Bloom wrote.

While she admits that she felt guilty making so much money off the airline, she was assured by other passengers they were doing the right thing.

As for Delta, CNN reports the airline says it should be operating at normal service today after canceling another 150 flights Sunday.

“Unfortunately, availability of flight crews to operate within federally mandated crew rest and duty day guidelines following last week’s disruption are still prompting some additional cancellations and delays,” the airline said in an update at the time.

According to FlightAware’s Misery Map, Delta currently has four canceled flights and 117 delays. Still, Delta continued to apologize and attempt to assist passengers in Twitter posts Monday.

Post: #12

(04-10-2017 02:05 PM)JohnKreese Wrote:  

(04-10-2017 01:34 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Most likely was a deadheading (re-positioning) crewmember who needed to be in position to operate another flight. I guarantee you it wasn't some employee on personal travel or non-essential personnel. One guy gets inconvenienced to allow 80+ others go. This happens every day.

If the airline tells you to get off, get off. If the cops tell you to get off... you're a fucking idiot if you don't. That drama queen phaggot deserved the ass beating and hopefully gets cited with felony failure to obey crewmember instructions.

Meanwhile, in the "Colorado Police Bodyslam Sorority Girl" thread from yesterday

(04-09-2017 01:12 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Agreed. No one, male or female, deserves missing teeth or serious injuries for being a drunk and obviously not being a risk. Any cop worth his salt could of deescalated that situation and made an arrest without violence. A night in the drunk tank and public intox ticket is the appropriate punishment.

Don't worry, I bet his opinion would be different if the doctor was a 110lbs drunken slut on her way home from vacation.

Post: #13

So if I'm reading the above posts right, this is a story about a gay Chinese guy who screamed racial discrimination when he was bumped from a flight, only to be brutally beaten by Black and Hispanic police officers?

Post: #14

(04-10-2017 02:24 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  So if I'm reading the above posts right, this is a story about a gay Chinese guy who screamed racial discrimination when he was bumped from a flight, only to be brutally beaten by Black and Hispanic police officers?

Multiculturalism is beautiful, is it not?

Post: #15

From a few years back:







I flew with a large instrument checked exactly one time. My instrument cost $5000 when it was bought in ~1999, and was in a decent hard case. Odds are good I was flying with United but I'm not sure, this was like seven years ago.

They broke three of the seven clasps on the case and somehow punched a 1.5" hole in the back, which came within about two millimeters of stoving in the back of the instrument. It looked a lot like someone went out of their way to try to damage my property.

Post: #16

(04-10-2017 02:15 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(04-10-2017 02:05 PM)JohnKreese Wrote:  

(04-10-2017 01:34 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Most likely was a deadheading (re-positioning) crewmember who needed to be in position to operate another flight. I guarantee you it wasn't some employee on personal travel or non-essential personnel. One guy gets inconvenienced to allow 80+ others go. This happens every day.

If the airline tells you to get off, get off. If the cops tell you to get off... you're a fucking idiot if you don't. That drama queen phaggot deserved the ass beating and hopefully gets cited with felony failure to obey crewmember instructions.

Meanwhile, in the "Colorado Police Bodyslam Sorority Girl" thread from yesterday

(04-09-2017 01:12 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Agreed. No one, male or female, deserves missing teeth or serious injuries for being a drunk and obviously not being a risk. Any cop worth his salt could of deescalated that situation and made an arrest without violence. A night in the drunk tank and public intox ticket is the appropriate punishment.

Don't worry, I bet his opinion would be different if the doctor was a 110lbs drunken slut on her way home from vacation.

Nice try, wiseass. You try getting someone out of a tight enclosed place like an airplane without having to drag their ass out. Just a few months ago I had police drag a drunk white woman kicking and screaming off my aircraft and everyone clapped after. And I went back there and told her exactly what was going to happen if she didn't get off on her own.

Post: #17

(04-10-2017 02:37 PM)RIslander Wrote:  

(04-10-2017 02:15 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(04-10-2017 02:05 PM)JohnKreese Wrote:  

(04-10-2017 01:34 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Most likely was a deadheading (re-positioning) crewmember who needed to be in position to operate another flight. I guarantee you it wasn't some employee on personal travel or non-essential personnel. One guy gets inconvenienced to allow 80+ others go. This happens every day.

If the airline tells you to get off, get off. If the cops tell you to get off... you're a fucking idiot if you don't. That drama queen phaggot deserved the ass beating and hopefully gets cited with felony failure to obey crewmember instructions.

Meanwhile, in the "Colorado Police Bodyslam Sorority Girl" thread from yesterday

(04-09-2017 01:12 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Agreed. No one, male or female, deserves missing teeth or serious injuries for being a drunk and obviously not being a risk. Any cop worth his salt could of deescalated that situation and made an arrest without violence. A night in the drunk tank and public intox ticket is the appropriate punishment.

Don't worry, I bet his opinion would be different if the doctor was a 110lbs drunken slut on her way home from vacation.

Nice try, wiseass. You try getting someone out of a tight enclosed place like an airplane without having to drag their ass out.

Just look at that guy on the plane, he looks harmless. He probably doesn't even lift.

Post: #18

Quote:That drama queen phaggot deserved the ass beating

Post: #19

For the record, I think he should have complied with the airline/police. I've always taken the freebies/voucher myself, not worth the headache of getting into it with the airlines, you rarely ever win.

As far as his excuse, patients can wait, it's not like the guy is running an ER by himself. He should have gotten off his high horse.

All that being said, he got banged up real good and this guy definitely will shake that tree.

Post: #20

(04-10-2017 02:24 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  So if I'm reading the above posts right, this is a story about a gay Chinese guy who screamed racial discrimination when he was bumped from a flight, only to be brutally beaten by Black and Hispanic police officers?

But they work for The Man

Post: #21

Watched this over lunch with wife today. She asked me how many times over the years have I accepted offers from airlines to bump my seat. I fly often enough...several times a month, so I had to really think. It's a big number. It's kind of a game for me to see how much my cooperation will net me.
I get, it can be a gigantic inconvenience for most people to get bumped. I agree it's "not fair" and is actually really shitty customer service and United should seriously revisit their policy. But that said, negotiate for the best incentive you can get and walk off. Don't get dragged...unless, of course, your long term goal was a lawsuit to begin with... hmmmm

Post: #22

This is 100% United's fuckup. The police will of course come drag you away if the captain says you have to get off the plane. This isn't a government abuse. United seriously screwed the pooch on this one and if I were corporate management, I would be furious with the crew about this PR nightmare.

United overbooked that flight and then demanded that people get off the plane. Those passengers paid their fares and have every reasonable expectation that their transit on that flight will be honored. Some people very well do NEED to be at their destinations. That's why they're flying is because they need to be somewhere. Not everyone is flying for vacation.

I agree with the above posters that United should have kept increasing the monetary incentives until someone accepted. Overbooking, letting the passenger board the plane, and then having the police come drag someone off by force? United deserves a bloodier nose for this one than that doctor received.

Post: #23

^If you review the contract of carriage you sign before buying an airline ticket you'd see they can remove anyone they like for overbooked flights. Obviously that is bad business practice and unethical, but it is legal. I'm sure plenty of passengers will swear they'll never fly United again... until next year when they book their annual Cancun trip and its $5 cheaper on Orbitz to fly United.

Post: #24

From what I read, airlines are required to offer up to $1350 before they can forcibly reomove someone. They only offered $800. Shit I would change flights for $1350 all day anyday.

Post: #25

"There's video and whatnot at the link.

It's too bad United Airlines didn't think to offer some better incentive than "vouchers to rebook". That's frankly a slap in the face, if you're already on the goddamn plane."

- A slap in the face? The guy agreed to United's contract when he booked his flight. He could have selected a higher fare class which would have greatly reduced / eliminated the chances of this happening as well.

"Chicago to Louisville is only 300 miles, too, it ain't like they were flying across the Pacific."

- Great. So then take the $800 they have to give you and rent a fucking car.

"I have no idea if their actions were legal. Probably. But boy, what a fuckup. Just rent a goddamn car for the employees, or offer to sent passengers via limo or something if they give up their seats. Offer $1000 cash plus voucher, do anything but bring the police in. WTF did they think was going to happen once the cops were on board? If the passenger tells the cops no, they're not going to cooperate, the only card the cops have left is using violence to get compliance."

- It's only a PR fuck-up because of snowflakes that can't put together logical reasoning these days. Honestly though, I expected better here.