Fook United Airlines

[Madeinhb]

I have not. It became clear to me that you can buy your way up the ladder on seating and I chose to opt out. Too much a pay to play, boost earnings per seat with minor fees, type of crap. That rankles me, and United seems to do less of it than others. I truly hate the "oooh $79 round trip ticket, but there is a fee for the seat, and another for the seatbelt, etc etc " and the next thing you know, that $79 Frontier ticket costs more than United. I admit I haven't looked much at pricing for Southwest as I have tended to avoid them based on the seating policy. But, I will check them out next flight.

I am sometimes on a short schedule and arrive at the gate near the end of boarding. At those times, I like the ability to select my seat when I purchase a ticket.

I only fly Frontier if it's a weekend trip and I pack my clothes in a backpack that fits under the seat. Then no baggage fees.

[Aloha_Shooter]

I fly United a lot. I've generally had good experiences with them. The few times I have had bad experiences, it's generally been for circumstances beyond their control (like the ground controllers at DIA pushing every plane around to the other end of the runway after a major snowstorm). I'm sure there's more to the story. Munoz's email to the employees read like he was trying to keep morale in the company up -- it definitely wasn't intended for public release.

I hate the way they use the phrase "denied boarding" - yeah, that would be one thing if he was stopped FROM boarding but the guy was already seated. He wasn't "denied boarding", he was being deboarded involuntarily. Having said that, if the "staff" that they were trying to put on the flight were crew for follow-on flights, there would have been rolling impacts in not getting them down there that would have affected a lot more people so I understand the airline's urgency in trying to get them down there.

I suspect -- as with so many stories -- we'll find out more details later that make the whole thing less cut-and-dried.

[Gman]

United Promised Regulators Ticketed Passengers Are Guaranteed Seats

Less than three years before a passenger was forcibly removed from one of its aircrafts, United Airlines assured federal regulators that all ticketed passengers are guaranteed seats on flights. The promise was delivered in federal filings reviewed by International Business Times.

In September 2014 comments to federal officials, the Chicago-based airline outlined its opposition to proposed rules that sought more disclosure of the fees airlines charge to customers. One of the rules at issue was designed to compel airlines to more explicitly disclose fees charged for reserving specific seats.

“Including advance-seat-assignment charges among the ‘basic ancillary service’ fees that must be disclosed as part of initial fare displays makes no sense,” the airline wrote to the Department of Transportation. “Every ticket, of course, guarantees a passenger a seat on the plane, with no additional mandatory seat-assignment charges."

Later in the filing, United Airlines expanded on its promise to regulators that it guarantees every ticketed passenger a seat.

“Importantly, every passenger who buys a ticket on a United flight or a flight on any of United’s partners or competitors in the United States will be assigned a seat at no additional charge (though in some cases this will still happen at the gate),” the airline wrote. “Therefore, the rule does not need to prescribe how carriers must disclose charges concerning advance seat assignments because passengers need not purchase this service to receive a seat assignment.” 

United has faced withering criticism—and calls for a congressional investigation—after video surfaced of a passenger being forcibly removed from a flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky. United issued a statement saying its flight was “overbooked” and asserting that “after our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate.”

The company’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, later apologized for having to "re-accommodate these customers.”

Federal rules do not prohibit airlines from overbooking flights. Despite United's assurance to federal regulators in 2014 that it guarantees seats for all ticketed passengers, the fine print of the airline’s “contract of carriage” agreement on its tickets says the company retains a right to bump passengers off flights for myriad reasons.

[flogger]

Did anyone think of Peter, Paul & Mary, 'Bleeding on a jet plane'?

[flogger]

I fly United a lot. I've generally had good experiences with them. The few times I have had bad experiences, it's generally been for circumstances beyond their control (like the ground controllers at DIA pushing every plane around to the other end of the runway after a major snowstorm). I'm sure there's more to the story. Munoz's email to the employees read like he was trying to keep morale in the company up -- it definitely wasn't intended for public release.

I hate the way they use the phrase "denied boarding" - yeah, that would be one thing if he was stopped FROM boarding but the guy was already seated. He wasn't "denied boarding", he was being deboarded involuntarily. Having said that, if the "staff" that they were trying to put on the flight were crew for follow-on flights, there would have been rolling impacts in not getting them down there that would have affected a lot more people so I understand the airline's urgency in trying to get them down there.

I suspect -- as with so many stories -- we'll find out more details later that make the whole thing less cut-and-dried.

Good point, always more to the story.

[TFOGGER]

http://newsthump.com/2017/04/11/unit...=socialnetwork

United Airlines confirms that beatings will continue until volunteering improves

[DireWolf]

I also fly United alot, and while most of the time it's been a positive experience (even the occasional complimentary upgrade to 1st), there have been a few ugly experiences, including my aforementioned sucessful impulse control to keep from rearanging the bone structure of several prissy pissy "I am the law!" (male) flight attendants....

That's the issue. If there's no imminent threat or security issue, they (airline attendants, crew, etc.) need to realize that they ARE NOT law enforcement officers, they cannot summarily make up their own rules, they are just uniformed customer service representatives, need to conduct themselves accordingly (e.g. back down and shut the fuck up)...The way I figure, this type of thing could have got someone killed if they tried pulling it on the wrong person on the wrong day....

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

[Gman]

This guy apparently has an odd history.

United passenger who was dragged from plane says he's still in the hospital

David Dao, a Kentucky physician who touched off a national debate over airline overbooking policies this week when he was dragged off a United Airlines flight, was still recovering in the hospital Tuesday after suffering injuries from the incident, according to a Kentucky television station that spoke to him.

Dao told WLKY-TV that he was not doing well and that he was still in a hospital in Chicago. When asked what his injuries were, he said "everything," the station reported.

On Sunday, Dao had boarded a United flight from Chicago to Louisville that the airline had overbooked. When flight staff chose four passengers to get off the plane to make room for United employees, Dao refused, saying that he was a doctor who needed to go back home to see patients.

The airline summoned security officers, who dragged a shrieking Dao out of his seat and off the plane. Footage of the incident, taken by passengers, many of whom were distraught over Dao's treatment, later showed Dao with a bloody face.

The incident has sparked criticism of United Airlines' handling of the incident. United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz initially said Dao, whom the airline did not publicly identify, was "disruptive and belligerent" when airline employees told him he would have to relinquish his seat because the flight was overbooked.

But as criticism mounted on Tuesday, Munoz issued another statement saying Dao had been "mistreated" and added, "I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard."

Little is known about Dao or why he was so adamant about remaining on the flight, leading news organizations to probe his history. The Louisville Courier-Journal and other news organizations reported Monday that Dao had previously been convicted of six felonies related to his medical practice in 2004, in which he was accused of illegally prescribing painkillers to a patient in exchange for sex.

He was given five years of supervised probation.

Dao surrendered his medical license in 2005, and applied for reinstatement, telling regulators it was a matter of "family honor." In a 2014 letter, his attorney described Dao as "a grandfather, an active participant in his local church" who supports an organization that helps the homeless in his community, Elizabethtown, Ky.

According to publicly available state licensing records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, Dao has a history of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, for which he has received treatment. A 2011 psychological evaluation of Dao concluded that he "lacked the foundation to navigate difficult situations, both inter-personally and in a complex profession."

That evaluation also said Dao has struggled with "poor decision-making" and a "lack of awareness around his personality and relational issues." The records said Dao had been previously cited by a hospital in the 2000s for "disruptive conduct" and was ordered to seek evaluation for "anger management" issues. In 2002, another doctor wrote that Dao sometimes "unilaterally chose to do his own thing."

But another psychological evaluation administered in 2013 concluded that Dao "emotionally was free of debilitating anxiety, depression, or psychological turmoil to the extent that it would affect his ability to function in activities of daily living or manage the practice of medicine."

Regulators cleared Dao to return to medical practice in 2015, in which he was initially restricted to working one day a week, supervised by another doctor.

The Times has been unable to reach Dao for his version of events.

The Chicago Department of Aviation suspended a security officer involved in the incident, the handling of which "was not in accordance with our standard operating procedure," the department said in a statement.

The department did not respond to The Times' requests for the officer's name and service history.

[brutal]

Dr. Deranged.

Proof he is looney tunes if you ask me.

[MrPrena]

This guy apparently has an odd history.

United passenger who was dragged from plane says he's still in the hospital

Nice find.
Now his POTENTIAL civil settlement just had a HUGE haircut. lol