United volunteers to kick people off plane

I read that they offered $400 and a night in a hotel for a volunteer, then bumped it up to $800. Why didn't they just keep raising the amount until someone accepted? Everyone has a price.

 

I wish someone did this to me so I could get PAID.

 

Apparently they needed the seat for their own employees? That's a little sketchy.... as is the entire overbooked process that airlines have been getting away with performing for years.

Excessive force is excessive force.

 

This seems like an Onion story. But researching it, it doesn't appear to be one.....

 

How did this one paying passenger get the raw end of the deal?
that's really the fail on the airlines part

 

So when no one volunteered, they just chose someone to kick off the plane?

 

I've actually been involuntarily bumped off a United flight. You're entitled to refuse a voluntary bump. At some point if the flight is overbooked, United does have the right to involuntarily bump passengers. If that happens to you, you are entitled to up to a check for $1500 and a hotel/taxi/food vouchers, etc..

With that said, the FAA rules don't allow United to involuntarily bump a passenger in favor of a non-revenue passenger. Furthermore, involuntarily removing a passenger after they have been boarded is something I've never seen. United clearly screwed up badly and will enjoy a nice lawsuit from this passenger.

Boarding the plane and then doing involuntarily removal is absolutely dumb. You always clear these things before boarding occurs.

Actually in my case, I was flying to Houston for thanksgiving on the last flight of the day. Everyone was going home to see family and no one wanted to miss it (even if it meant getting a large check). United ultimately had to pick 2 random people and it ended up being myself and my wife. And I was still incredibly mad about missing thanksgiving even though we received $3000 for our trouble.

There's actually very little you can do about this until airline IT changes. Travel agencies are able to issue their own tickets for airlines so you'll end up with overbooked flights as a result.

 

because they could kick someone off for free apparently.

 

Apparently they had to get 4 people off the plane in order to make space for a united flight crew that needed to go to Louisville.

They randomly chose them when nobody volunteered.

I understand why airlines have to overbook, and what their procedures are when nobody volunteers (they usually end up bumping those who don't have connections to be made, booked last second, or on lower fare class tickets)... but I've never heard of them randomly choosing people to be bumped, and taking people off a flight so their own employees can be put on a flight.

If anything, don't airline employees have the ability to fly other airlines, when their own can't accomodate?

 

The article says the passenger was just traveling home so maybe he fit that criteria. Still hard to comprehend kicking off a paid passenger, checked-in and sitting on a flight about to take off. I know this is not just a United issue but after using them for company travel for 5 years, I can honestly say that they have the absolute worst customer service.

 

It almost sounds as if they decided to go with the flight as is, hence why everybody was boarded, but something else happened at the last second to where that extra flight crew HAD to get on the plane... and thus this resulted.

In the end, the airlines still ends up escalating a mistake that they partially helped create.

 

The man was a doctor who refused to get off the plane because he had patients he had to tend to the next day. Unreal.

 

Seriously, this. I can't believe that no would take $1,000+ in return for having to drive 5 hours from Louisville to Chicago. Not a single passenger?

 

And apparently united does as well... in regards to what they're willing to reimburse.

 

And.... that's a good justification why i don't fly United anymore. I flew 10 times in February: most were on southwest but a few were on Delta or American. United has just managed to burn any good will so many different ways for me.

 

Can someone explain how/why United "overbooks" flights? I had a flight from NYC to Houston this past Xmas day and they over booked and needed 4 volunteers. They offered like $1k voucher etc etc. but what possible reason do they do this?

Is there some data that shows that typically 96/100 booked passengers show up to there flight so they have a better chance of filling the flight 100% if they let the systems overbook by x amount?