Apparently — and despite United's initial statements (which were picked up by the media), the flight in question was not overbooked (which in theory would allow United to trigger its carriage clauses around picking who to leave behind[1]). It was fully booked. The number of passengers booked matched the number of seats.
United simply decided it needed four seats freed up to transfer some personnel — flight crew — to the destination. And that isn't something covered by all the United fine print on the ticket as a reason to kick you off.
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[1] Though that, in turn, has been questioned if the passengers have already boarded: http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/united-cites-wrong-rule-for-illegally-de-boarding-passenger/
United Airlines Did Not Have the Legal Right to Refuse Service to the Doctor Dragged Off Its Plane
A passenger was violently dragged off a flight, but it’s even worse than you thought.
And that isn't something covered by all the United fine print on the ticket as a reason to kick you off.
It will be now.
i may not be here long to find the answer but can someone tell me why it was this one person got picked out from everyone else ?
+Ron Wrecker Four people were selected, ostensibly at random (United has an algorithm process for kicking people off for overbooking, that factors in ticket price and frequent flier status, etc., but it's not clear it was used here).
The first three acquiesced unhappily (presumably, since they did not volunteer earlier). The fourth, Dr Dao, declined (and, it appears, not "belligerently" as United claimed early on).
http://www.teenvogue.com/story/a-new-video-disputes-uniteds-claim-that-passenger-david-dao-was-acting-belligerent
I don't know why security kick a person out of a plane
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ocODj1SpQQKCZ7rPH_mGzW1QCeg49CEtASAqRBVdIwn-e6Uch5I9mM-n6nFtA2PVgbVpERHSmw
thank you . good enough
So:
1) They cited rules about denying boarding, despite the customer already having boarded.
2) They cited overbooking, despite their just wanting to save some money for transferring their own personnel.
… what's next?
They "have an algorithm" yet they picked the husband and not the wife? Perhaps their "algorithm" needs tweaking.
Or they're lying.
Every airline can do this. Don't forget that next time you buy your seat.
Those cocksuckers, that CEO needs to quit, he should be ashamed of himself. How dare u put that man thru that pain, suffering and humiliation.
Well, they can but only in specific circumstances. This wasn't one of them, and even if it had been, the physical abuse of Dr. Dao would have rendered that irrelevant.
They don't have carte blanche and after this episode I suspect there will be further restrictions. At least one lawmaker will be submitting a bill that would prevent overbooking (although that wasn't actually the issue here.)
+Vashti T Why would selecting the wife for ejection have been the superior move? Or are you just saying they should have been booted together? That would have made more sense, as far as any of this makes sense.
This may prove to be the most expensive seat in United history.