Fly the Friendly Skies
United Airlines, always on the lookout for a good publicity story to promote their quality service, had a passenger forcibly removed from his overbooked seat. Judging by the viral videos, he didn’t seem agreeable to have someone else take his place. Probably had somewhere to be, people to see, maybe a meeting to attend, something that made him reluctant to leave the plane and hope United would get him a seat later that day or next week.
United stated they’d asked nicely for volunteers but no one came forward. So … what else is an airline to do but grab someone by the feet and drag them to the front exit door in front of all those other overbooked passengers who, if they were the thinking types, might see themselves in a similar position. One fellow passenger gave full throated support: “Way to go!” Course, he was rooting for the air marshals, not the fellow who might have been him. Probably thought the guy being dragged away was a terrorist.
I fly United occasionally. And yeah, they overbook all the time. They ask if there’s anyone who would take a voucher and fly another time, free flight or a pretty good discount. Great for folks with no family, no job, no hurry to get anywhere in particular. But for those of us who need to be someplace, well, I wouldn’t want my name chosen at random by the desk jockeys for United. And it does make me wonder, how did they choose this man to drag off? Alphabetical name place? Last passenger to book, other than the ones overbooked? Profiling? Name pulled from a hat? Eenie Miney Mo?
Personally, dragging a passenger off a plane seems pretty consistent with airline policy these days. Crammed overhead cargo, narrower seats, no leg room, extra fees for … well, everything, more and more delays, lost luggage, smaller options. I haven’t flown a friendly sky in a long long time. Next time, though, I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that we aren’t dragged by the feet off the flight we booked and paid for. And to the guy who yelled Way to Go, let’s hope it’s you next time when they need a ‘volunteer’ to give up an overbooked seat.
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Tags: airline customer service, fly the friendly skies, overbooked airline seat, united airlines
That scene was horrific on so many levels. But I’m pretty sure when deciding to “randomly” bump people off full flights with no volunteers, they consider frequent flier status, price and class of ticket (I don’t think 1st class people get bumped at random), and time of check-in. I also think having a ticket purchased through a 3rd party like Orbitz or Travelocity greatly ups your chance of gettng bumped in these situations. But I am speculating based on anecdotal information. My sister lost her Norwegian vacation several years ago because she, holding a rewards ticket, was bumped off her connecting flight which caused her to miss her international flight, which couldn’t be rebooked for several days because the flights were already filled.
United ‘Fly the Friendly Aisles by Your Feet’ Airlines is taking a bath today in the stock market. The Chinese, 200 million of them in less than 24 hours, watched that video and maybe thought United was picking that guy because he was, well, Asian. I guess the stereotype of Asians being acquiescent in the face of bureaucracy, whether government or corporate, might have missed the mark. And the Chinese flying public is huge and growing bigger. Course, three other people were asked to leave too, but like you say, I doubt they were first class or frequent fliers, just the steerage folks back in the cattle section. Flying these days is like a trip across the border, leave your freedom at the door and do what you’re told. For our own good, of course.
The worst part, well maybe second worst part after getting dragged out of the plane by your feet, was that all of the passengers were already seated. They checked in, scanned their ticket at the gate, walked down the jet-way, stowed their luggage, and started to get comfortable in their seat.
Then, the United official asked for volunteers to get off the plane. And offered a voucher. Seems like too little too late. Even D.B. Cooper was allowed to voluntarily give up his seat when he left his flight high over the Washington-Oregon border.
No, Jack, not “for your own good.” For “your convenience.” That’s what they always say.
Right. The folks who call and tell me they’re recording the conversation say it’s for own protection. Obviously I seem to need others’ help.