What has been your most nightmarish experience w an Airline ?

In 1971, on my way back to Houston from Europe, my flight was over-booked. Well, economy class was over-booked. I'm at an airport in New York being told this by a cute female employee of the airline (and which one is something that's escaped my memory - I'd have to dig around in one of my closets to find out for sure), and my dismay must have been painted across my face. I'd been out of the country for 6 months, and now that I had run out of money, needed to get home. I had to borrow $10 bucks from a guy I'd become friends with in Amsterdam just to have some bread in my pocket for the trip on the KLM charter. Anyway, the chick says, "Just a minute, sir. I may have a solution. We have empty seats in 1st Class. Does that work for you? It's a free upgrade." Did it ever! I ended up sitting next to a millionaire who was also headed back to Houston, and we took full advantage of the free drinks, not that the drinks being free mattered to him, but I sure enjoyed it. The conversation was fun. I gained a new regard for millionaires. Here I was with a beard and hair halfway down my back, and the cat couldn't be friendlier.

Oh, wait... did I misread the thread title??

Hey! Shouldn't this be in Hangout?

 

He's just trying to troll me - ignore him. His contradictions are funny though.

 

To answer the thread starter's question, my most nightmarish experience with an airline was actually a while ago, in 1971. I was flying from Europe to Houston, after inspecting my castle in the south of France. I had booked a 1st class ticket so that I would be able to relax on the flight. When I checked seat assignments shortly before the flight, I could see that the seat next to me would remain vacant. Perfect!

But then, to my dismay, the airline placed a very smelly, bearded hippie with hair halfway down his back next to me. Must have been a free upgrade, because how else could this stone-throwing peacenik have afforded the ticket in first class?! The chap was friendly enough, at least he didn't attack me for being a capitalist, but boy, was he smelly. And not only that, he got drunk beyond belief during the flight.

I bet he wouldn't even have remembered what airline he was on.

 

I love you bro but you are wrong on this one Bobby. This doctor maybe a douche and has a checkered past but it is totally irrelevant here. You know United put his past out there to shame him and to make themselves look better. It is working so well that United stock drops 1.3 billions yesterday. This is a fukk up of epic proportions all the way from the arrogance tone deaf CEO Oscar " Master communicator of the year" Munoz to the ill trained crew members. ATW beat me to it and laid out a very eloquent legal argument . We as passengers have more rights than we think and the airlines just can't do whatever the hell they want to do to us.

 

This started out like a Penthouse Forum letter and then...it wasn't.

 

Was totally worth it as a set up to ATW's post.

 

LOL at all those still trying to defend United Airlines, even after they admitted that they wronged the passenger.

The only questions left to be answered are (1) how much the wronged passenger will get (we'll probably never know since United will require confidentiality, but it will huge) and (2) what changes will be required of United and all airlines as politicians of both parties jump on the train.

 

Right after the Continental/United merger, I boarded a flight with a stack of Continental drink coupons and was informed that they would no longer be honored.

 

He has a ticket, that can be revoked. The airline has the right to remove anyone from the plane.

This was just a perfect storm of having a selfish and childish passenger, an incompetent HR department and an incompetent police force.

 

He will likely get a big settlement because the airline wants the story to go away, but honestly the passenger doesn't deserve one. He should have gotten off the flight and acted like a child. He is deserving of something, but people are injured and harmed more every day and get a fraction of what he is likely to get. Cases like his are part of what is the problem with the legal system.

 

The wanting the story to go away quickly was the correct approach that United should have taken from the get go. Instead, they attempted to defend the actions, deflect the blame on the victim, and then put out or allowed confusing and contradictory (and possibly untrue) statements about what happened that simply made things worse and extended and increased the controversy. United finally figured out what they should have done from moment one... accept responsibility, apologize, make amends with the passenger, and state changes were going to happen.

And if what happened to that passenger never happens to anyone else because of the coverage and changes resulting... then we all owe thanks to that passenger. If one result is that airlines change their overbooking policy and practices... all airline passengers benefit.

 

Funny that the Hangout thread has more arguing than this one does.

 

And for the most part folks have been civil and avoided politics. Though not surprising for the most part the expected division into Trump voters/republicans/conservatives supporting United and democrats/liberals supporting the passenger. Did find it odd that one United supporter tried to connect the Travon Martin case by bring up skittles and ice tea....

 

#1 I don't think that anyone thinks the airline handled it well, nor did airport security. However the passenger is certainly to blame as well. If it would ever go to trial it would be interesting to see how much contributory negligence the passenger would have.

#2 The overbooking procedure isn't really a problem. Without it, the cost of tickets will rise and it will be a waste of fuel. As far as not letting it happen to anyone else.... when the airline tells you to get off the flight, you get off the flight. You can argue the matter once you are off the flight or you can sue the airline at a later date. What you don't do is make the entire group of passengers wait for two hours while the airline tries to coax you to leave and then eventually have to have you physically removed. Not to mention it is very likely he delayed other flights as well.

There is plenty of blame to go around, but the narrative that the passenger was some sort of innocent bystander is absurd.

 

I am still finding it difficult to think there is any instance when a customer who purchased a ticket, was allowed to board an airplane and as far as reports go had doe nothing wrong but either "bad luck of the computer draw" or "was one of the last to board" (the airline hasn't been entirely clear on the reason) was violently removed from the airplane.

Quoting the United CEO: "n his interview, Munoz said he has unsuccessfully tried to reach the passenger to apologize directly. He said Dao is not at fault. "He can't be. He was a paying passenger sitting on our seat in our aircraft, and no one should be treated like that. Period.""

Hmm... first I read that there was an environmental benefit to overbooking. I thought it was solely to increase the ridership percentage and maximize profitability. I'd have to see studies of fuel waste by airlines not overbooking.

But blaming the passenger for delaying flights? If the airline didn't create the overbooking situation by attempting to displace paying customers to move airline personnel then that flight would have arrived earlier. Blaming paying passengers for the airlines personnel staffing challenges seem way off base.

 

#1 I don't care what the CEO said, he was losing huge sums of money and would say anything to stop the PR nightmare. Further, that doesn't stop the passenger from having an element of blame for refusing to exit the plane and then getting back on the plane.

#2 No, the passenger was certainly at least partially at fault for the delays by refusing to exit the airplane. Two hours were wasted. The industry can certainly change their policies concerning over booking, but consumers better be prepared for higher ticket prices.

 

I think we are partially to blame for what happened to that doctor. We have steadily been giving up our civil liberties for the sake of being safe. Since 9/11, little by little we have become sheep with no thoughts and the cojones to act when our rights are trampled upon. Why do you think United act like that? Because we let them. If I was on that flight and witnessed that shenanigans, I would have gotten up and convinced my fellow passengers to do the same and demand a proper explanation. They may arrest my ass and charge me with inciting a riot, but that is a price for civil liberty. You notice that the passengers on that flight may moan and groan, but they just sat there and watched the horror show unfolding right before their eyes. You can call it cowardice, selfishness, indifference and this is a perfect example of being a sheep. The reason that it went viral because it touched a nerve, people know that it could easily been one them being knocked unconscious, bloodied, dragged through the aisles with your body part exposed and lost the last shred of dignity that you have.
Anyone here share my sentiment?

 

Agree that the CEO was finally stopping the PR bleeding. But I also think the airline was in the wrong from the beginning, that they didn't exhaust all avenues to get volunteers to accept vouchers and avoid thinking they had to violently remove a passenger from the plane. Reports exist that passengers would have volunteered at a higher voucher amount. Again, that would have avoided the violent confrontation and any delay in departure.

I am not certain that "higher ticket prices" are an inevitable result for an improvement in policy and process.

For example, what about an improvement in maximized seat usage as a result of improved big data analytics? Better prediction of traffic demand with the additional benefit of pricing optimization.

Or more transparency on overbooking policies and when and why a passenger can be denied boarding? United's story changed a few times in this case... were the four passengers chosen randomly? Were they the last to book? Last to board? Was ticket price paid a factor? Was the plane actually overbooked? When can paying passengers be deplaned and whether they can be deplaned for paying customers only or for airline personnel? Clarity in the policy and process might have avoided the issue in this case.

Or, why do the majority of traveling customers need to pay the penalty of overbooked planes for the small percentage of people that take advantage of refundable seats booked in advance? Perhaps influencing people to book travel that really intend to take as opposed to encouraging people to book multiple flights and cancelling those they find inconvenient?

 

Okay, having now thought very deeply on this , I see the passenger is totally and utterly blameless in this. He should not have been told to deplane. I don't care at all what he may have done after that. He should not have been told to deplane. Everything else, including his supposed trespassing, is just noise. United created this process and the problem and chose a bad solution. Hopefully the reforms they make will include never using involuntary deplaning to resolve overbooked flights.

 

Well looky here...the good doctor has assembled a dreamteam while convalescing. Thomas Demetrio and Stephen Golan will represent him. Demetrio had won over a billion dollars for one client on a personal injury suit....damn. If I was the good doctor, I would donate a huge sum of money to the soon to be unemployed Oscar Munoz school of management.