Of course it is. Airlines already had the *right* to do it - nothing has changed there. The only difference is they just implemented more strict policies on when they might do it, and ensured they won't do crazy-ass stuff like drag a passenger off the plane. In no scenario is a passenger worse off today than they were a week ago. And in many ways, they are better off. In what way is that NOT a victory for passengers?
Read the article. The change in policy is still only regarding their involuntary "denied boarding" procedures. Don't really know how this changes much if the passenger is already boarded and in his/her seat and can't accept illegal involuntary removal from the plane. They can just bribe them more to correct there gross error while trying to order you to deboard once you have every right to the seat they gave you.
United just changed their policy and will no longer displace seated passengers and will also force employees to show up at least 60 minutes before takeoff in order to bump a paying passenger. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/united-policy-crew-displace-seated-passengers-46830554 This is basically admitting that their old policy was wrong and that Dao was mistreated. This will help Dao's case in court.
This is not going to the court, United will settle and Dao will have a very nice payday for his mistreatment.
A ton of current airline policies are 'wrong', and they've gotten away with it for years because, for some strange reason, we let them. Like many others have said in this thread, the best thing about this whole incident is that it will send shockwaves through the industry to get airlines to roll back some of these outright customer-hostile policies. Of course since there isn't a legal scaffolding supporting new customer treatment and regulations -- you can probably expect many of these changes to be quietly done away with after the furor is over.
Here's How Much David Dao Will Make From United, According To A Lawyer https://www.yahoo.com/news/apos-much-david-dao-united-170331922.html Spoiler I'm not sure how much of a case he has against the city of Chicago, but UA is going to get taken to the cleaners.
Not a United defender by any stretch of the imagination, but......this just sounds like she had too much to drink and was being belligerent. And is now trying to get her 15 minutes because of the Dao incident.
I think it can be expected that there will be a number of complaints filed against United Airlines...
Absolutely, but this particular one happened 4 years ago. And while I certainly wasn't there and have no idea what happened, just reading story it seems like she had a little too much to drink, lost her temper with the flight attendant, then started trolling her soon-to-be ex-husband by continually putting her head on his shoulder when he told her not to. Just an odd story all the way around. Why was she sitting next to her husband "with whom she was engaged in a bitter divorce" with? Add a few too many drinks, and it just sounds like a recipe for disaster, wouldn't you agree?
It may very well be a woman trying to profit from the news coverage and expected settlement. The coverage of this story (mostly tabloid style papers) doesn't lend more credibility. But again, I suspect there will be more of these as people that were (or will claim to have been) victims in the past will file complaints, just as people in the future will be more willing to file complaints.
I have a hard time trusting anything coming from United and the lying weasels that work for them from the top down. If I was David Dao, I would instruct my arttoneys to never settle and take them to court. David Dao seems to be doing well financially as a doctor so he's not exactly hard up for cash. He could take a huge settlement and walk away or he can have his day in court , expose United for a bunch of bastards which they are, win a huge judgments, put an end to his shame and help the regular folks like you and me to never go through that shiet again when we fly.
But even if it goes to trial, even if he wins, united would then have an opportunity for an appeal... and can use a variety of tactics to delay whatever payout is deemed appropriate. Then there's always the opportunity for a possible mis-trial, or by some bizarre unforeseen circumstance, United finds their way out of it. As of now, United is decidedly guilty in the court of public perception, with them already instituting changes to ensure this never happens again. Them coming to a settlement decision would have no negative impact on the already positive changes coming as a result of this incident.
Normally I would agree with you and go the settlement route. This case however; is far from ordinary. David Dao retains probably the best attorneys in the land to represent him. I'm just trying to get inside of his head and put myself in his shoes. Sure, I could take the millions and walk away, but I could never be whole again for what United did to me, and will always have the fear in the back of my head that it could happen again. He goes to trial and he might make history.
