Man Dragged off United Flight

drunkenbeagle said:
As it is now, my girlfriend is only willing to take United flights if they are operated by Luftansa or Air Canada. I'm sure she isn't the only one. On international routes at least, customers certainly have a few choices.
Click to expand...
For everyone one person who "will never fly another united flight" there is exactly one other person "who will never fly an American/Delta/Southwest/etc." Individuals may stop flying a certain carrier, but society as a whole will not. Too many people will give in and buy a ticked when united offers the cheapest seat, most convenient route, preferred connecting hub, or whatever.
 
mrivc211 said:
My mind is boggled by the line of thinking by some posters. The issue is black and white. United can remove anyone they want to at anytime for any reason.
Click to expand...

Sure, they can. But no other business operates this way. You don't make reservations at a restaurant, pre-pay for your order, and then be told to leave your seats for someone else that will be dining on your order, and be offered a gift certificate (only good there), and be told you can maybe have a table next week, or you can go to the only other place in town for 8 times the price now.

You don't hear a wall street bank tell you that they've decided to give the stock you bought to someone else, but they'll give you a million GoldmanSachs points. If you want the stock they sold you, you can have it now for 3 times the price.

I don't think the concept of denied boarding should really exist in the first place. Air carriers could just make increasing offers to get a volunteer, they will eventually get one. That's how every other thing in the world is negotiated.
 
poser765 said:
For everyone one person who "will never fly another united flight" there is exactly one other person "who will never fly an American/Delta/Southwest/etc." Individuals may stop flying a certain carrier, but society as a whole will not.
Click to expand...

"We know you have a choice in air travel, and thank you for flying SkyBus Airways" Well, you know what? It doesn't take many customers choosing a competitor to add up. One lost sale of one seat on one flight is enough to take it from profit to loss. It does make a difference.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
"We know you have a choice in air travel, and thank you for flying SkyBus Airways" Well, you know what? It doesn't take many customers choosing a competitor to add up. One lost sale of one seat on one flight is enough to take it from profit to loss. It does make a difference.
Click to expand...
Oh I don't disagree with that at all. All I'm saying is for everyone pissed off about this there are probably just as many people pissed off about another carrier that would gladly fly United for a cheaper ticket.
 
etflies said:
Maybe. I doubt that many, if any at all will switch because of this. Legacy carriers cater to loyal/high mileage customers because they are their bread and butter and this guy wasn't picked to be removed because he is high up on the totem pole of frequent flyer status. While 1.6m miles is impressive, over 17 years that averages 94,000/yr and some change. There are customers who do that every few weeks with the airline. Those are the high value types they don't want to lose. I agree that anyone who purchases a ticket, no matter if it is Ma n' Pa Kettle on their first trip or Joe McFrequentFlyer on their millionth mile of the year, should be treated with dignity and respect but at the same time people need to understand that this isn't Nam. There are rules.

In fact, within the contract of carriage that United has, they spell out how they choose which passengers are to be removed and it includes both fare, and frequent flyer status among a smattering of other factors such as itinerary and when they checked in. As such, I would be quite surprised if this doctor was a frequent flyer and was picked to be removed over a leisure passenger who travels once or twice per year.
Click to expand...

I'm not suggesting I'm even close to being dragged off a flight.

What I am suggesting is there's a large amount of business travelers that aren't hitting Expedia looking for the lowest fare to get to some far flung destination while avoiding bag fees. They pay the the higher fares and can direct their business where they want for the most part. Some have low fare rules, as myself, however they are generous enough they generally don't impact me, and if you happen to play with departure times, you can lock out the Southwest low far tilts of the fare tables to avoid them.

Its not the Oh Mee Gersh, that guy was dragged off one off episode that would necessarily cause a switch. Its that combined with other episodes, anecdotes from fellow travelers and general perception of service.
 
jskibo said:
I'm not suggesting I'm even close to being dragged off a flight.

What I am suggesting is there's a large amount of business travelers that aren't hitting Expedia looking for the lowest fare to get to some far flung destination while avoiding bag fees. They pay the the higher fares and can direct their business where they want for the most part. Some have low fare rules, as myself, however they are generous enough they generally don't impact me, and if you happen to play with departure times, you can lock out the Southwest low far tilts of the fare tables to avoid them.

Its not the Oh Mee Gersh, that guy was dragged off one off episode that would necessarily cause a switch. Its that combined with other episodes, anecdotes from fellow travelers and general perception of service.
Click to expand...

I understand, and I didn't mean to insinuate that you would be dragged off a flight by any means. You're right, there are travelers who can be more discerning over with whom they spend money. This incident, combined with the leggings fiasco a few weeks back gives United a PR nightmare to overcome.

The point I was making is that for every discerning customer who shys away from United because of this, you'll have one from Delta who is angry over the cascading set of issues they faced as a result of weather last week, or some short coming by American. And round and round it goes. The public has a short memory. United will be fine. The bottom line will take a hit but the high value customers will be there and passengers will still book with United. In a few weeks there will be some new injustice, perceived or otherwise, to which people can overreact and jump to conclusions and this will be a punchline that quickly grows tired because everyone thinks they'll be the first passenger to make a joke about it when they fly.
 
Last edited:
IMG_0493.JPG
 
etflies said:
I understand, and I didn't mean to insinuate that you would be dragged off a flight by any means. You're right, there are travelers who can be more discerning over with whom they spend money. This incident, combined with the leggings fiasco a few weeks back gives United a PR nightmare to overcome.

The point I was making is that for every discerning customer who shys away from United because of this, you'll have one from Delta who is angry over the cascading set of issues they faced as a result of weather last week, or some short coming by American. And round and round it goes. United will be fine. The bottom line will take a hit but the high value customers will be there and passengers will still book with United. In a few weeks there will be some new injustice, perceived or otherwise, to which people can overreact and jump to conclusions and this will be a punchline that quickly grows tired because everyone thinks they'll be the first passenger to make a joke about it when they fly.
Click to expand...

And United or any airline isn't really making that much money off their economy tickets. Good luck trying to persuade their already neglected First Class customers, many who already migrated to Delta or American after changes that their previous CEO made that United offers a premium product after an incident like this. Will their first class customers on this flight and others be lining up to buy their next fare on United after this? I know United has great pilots that work for them, but their management proves time and time again that they're inept or have little interest in customer service.

I've flown regularly as a paying customer for the last four years and amazingly somehow the one airline that's made the absolute worst name for themselves among my co-workers is United and they're not the company we fly the most often either.

I've been down right impressed with a lot of things Delta has been doing for their customers over the last couple of years. My flight was delayed two months ago and for some wonderful reason they bought us pizza.
 
srn121 said:
And United or any airline isn't really making that much money off their economy tickets. Good luck trying to persuade their already neglected First Class customers, many who already migrated to Delta or American after changes that their previous CEO made that United offers a premium product after an incident like this. Will their first class customers on this flight and others be lining up to buy their next fare on United after this? I know United has great pilots that work for them, but their management proves time and time again that they're inept or have little interest in customer service.
Click to expand...

I doubt your typical 1st class customer who travels many times a year without incident is too phased by a one-off incident in Louisville in the fight club section of the plane.
 
Baronman said:
I doubt your typical 1st class customer who travels many times a year without incident is too phased by a one-off incident in Louisville in the fight club section of the plane.
Click to expand...

I'm sure more than a few will. People take pride when they fly first class and when they're inevitably asked who they flew in on I'm sure saying United will illicit some joking if it didn't already. It's like telling people you bought a new luxury car and when they ask what you bought you tell them it's a Buick. Just ask yourself will a wealthy, status concious traveler want to be more associated with United after this incident?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top