A few weeks ago we saw Twitter explode with outcry against United over #leggingsgate (or #spandexgate…take your pick). Two girls were denied boarding by United gate agents due to not following the appropriate dress code for non-rev travelers. You can read Dan’s take on that incident (SEE: Thoughts on #spandexgate – you’ll never win by being a jerk to 10 year old girls).
In this situation United had the legal right (maybe?) to make the decision they did. The travelers flying on a non-rev ticket should have known the dress code. I personally side with the airline’s decision from a policy standpoint. But from a PR standpoint, it was stupid.
United can’t catch a break
With that public relations debacle barely behind them, United has stepped in it again. And this time it’s worse. It’s almost like the airline intentionally decided to up the ante.
If you haven’t heard by now, a man was dragged off an oversold United flight by Chicago police on Sunday after refusing to give up his seat. The man claimed he was a doctor and had to get home to his patients and had to be forcibly removed from the plane. He really put the “involuntary” in involuntarily denied boarding.
Absurdly, the man was able to run back on the plane a little while later, bloodied and disoriented! All the while other passengers had their cell phones out to capture the action, which then quickly hit the news. The situation is horrible, both for the man and for the airline.
United’s debacle in Chicago
The current situation takes things to an entirely new level. United could have done a few things to prevent this PR nightmare from occurring.
The main compounding factor is this situation is that United had to get crew to Louisville to service other flights. Because of this, United had to bump 4 passengers from the flight. This is a major bummer, but if they didn’t bump the passengers, the other flights would end up delayed and/or canceled. But in this case, it’s not like Chicago and Louisville are THAT far away – it probably would have been cheaper to just hire them an Uber to DRIVE to Louisville! Plus United has a hub in Chicago – seems like they could have found a way to get another plane there to get the crew where it needed to be
Typically, an airline first offers compensation for anyone willing to be voluntarily bumped from a flight. If there are no initial volunteers, the amount is typically increased until someone takes the bait. This usually prevents the unfortunate situation of what is called being “involuntarily denied boarding”.
Why did United stop upping the compensation?
This is the biggest mystery to me. It makes zero sense to me that they stopped at $800. The compensation for being denied boarding in this incident should have been $1,350, if I’m not mistaken.
There is no reason the gate agents should have not upped the amount until they matched it in order to get people to volunteer to leave the plane. This is one of those instances where agents should have the discretion to offer compensation. But no, a computer tells them the maximum compensation they can offer.
If it was that critical to get crew to Louisville to service other flights, United should have been willing to offer substantially more for the inconvenience. Not getting the crew to the new location would mean that other flights would be delayed and/or canceled, so I can see why it was imperative to bump 4 people from this flight. But this critical need makes it doubly important to offer enough compensation to coax a few volunteers to stay until the next day. It is utterly absurd United stopped at $800. This is the same point Lucky at One Mile at at Time hammers home (SEE: The root cause of United’s denied boarding fiasco).
View from the Wing calls this course of action a ‘myth’. You can read his take here. Personally, I think the airline should have upped the compensation to the legally required amount for IDB before they pursued the course of action they did.
Why was the man boarded?
This is another maddening question. This entire situation should have been resolved before a single person got on that plane. If you’re going to bump people from a flight, it makes zero sense to board them.
All of this should have been figured out at the gate. Tensions probably would not have run as high, and it would have been easier to bump the 4 passengers from the flight.
Did the Chicago police act appropriately?
In my opinion, the police never should have been called. If United had followed a better course of action from the beginning, there never would have been a need to bring the police on board to remove the passenger.
But once they were on board, the passenger should have complied. Obviously he should have complied before that, but the police should have been enough of a sign that he *must* leave that plane, no matter the consequences.
Still, I don’t believe the situation warranted the police literally ripping him from his seat and dragging him down the aisle! In the process his face was smashed on the armrest. The passenger then managed to return to the aircraft! That’s the most ludicrous part.
The Chicago police department has placed the officer who dragged the man off the plane on leave, which is entirely appropriate in my opinion.
Will this change the way United handles bumps in the future?
I certainly hope so. This should be a poignant lesson an airline already smarting from their incident just a few weeks ago. United’s CEO Oscar Muñoz has issued a formal apology.
There is likely occasion for a lawsuit here, and United will be out a lot more money fighting that than what they would have paid in compensation to a few travelers.
They are also paying in terms of PR. Big time. I hope this debacle changes company policy in multiple ways.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
The ‘nightmare’ was caused by the Chinese immigrant who feels no obligation to follow law and rules in America. Sadly, the PC crowd and social justice warriors, absent critical thought, react under emotions by watching videos. He deserved to be hauled off the plane as his child like behavior led to that. United did nothing wrong here. Nothing. We see a breakdown in law and order.
There are definitely 2 sides to the story. The passenger did defy direct orders of the crew and law enforcement, so I can agree that some of the blame falls on him. But I don’t believe for a second that it justified the treatment he received.
United’s mismanagement of the situation is going to cost them far, far more due to the backlash from this incident, whether right or wrong on their part.
But is it going to cost them? I’m not 100% sure that I see a lawsuit coming. Any business has the right to refuse service to anyone, and that’s before the 37,000 word contract of carriage you agree to when you buy a ticket.
I honestly see this man getting added to No Fly List (I certainly don’t want to see him on my next airplane), and wonder if he couldn’t end up getting slapped with a lawsuit himself for delaying the flight or trespassing/damage to property that occurred after he was told to leave the plane.
It’s regrettable that the police in this situation didn’t use a taser to subdue the man, handcuff him and read him his rights before throwing him in a jail cell. This kind of refusal to obey the orders of law enforcement is unacceptable on land, but when it comes to airplanes, it’s absolutely reprehensible.
Dao is already lawyered up and recuperating in a Chicago hospital.
Ah yes, let’s politicize the man who was injured and bleeding FOR NOT GIVING UP A PLANE SEAT. Not like he’s carrying his beloved AK around.
I agree with Ian. I was telling my husband that if we had access to video taken of the passenger’s behavior prior to his forcible removal, we’d have a much clearer view of the big picture here. I do find it interesting that the passenger who recorded the viral video of the man being dragged actually seemed to side with United security! That alone tells me the latter’s behavior must have been pretty outlandish. We clearly don’t have the whole story. However, I don’t think it much matters in the court of public opinion…it seems like the masses have already made their decision on who is ultimately at fault.
For real, though…dragging him through the aisle like that?? And I’m with you, Dan—I do NOT understand why United didn’t up the compensation. Apparently some of the passengers were chanting, “More! More!”
It’s an unfortunate situation all around.
I agree with you Dan. United should have handled this much much better. I believe a lot of people are not trusting airlines that much these days, so the lure of “vouchers” is likely riddled with gotchas, clauses, blackout days, and many other restrictions. That may not be (and likely is not) the case, but the airlines have done a good job of eroding trust to the traveling public. Perhaps if “cash” had been offered then there would have been more volunteers. Even $800 in cash is much cheaper than the airfare the customers paid x4 plus accommodations. It’s puzzling.
The gentlemen should have been more cooperative though. It was far too dramatic of a situation, and although he was unhappy with the outcome (as I would be), there was no need for the show.
I really cannot believe that United of all carriers couldn’t get either alternate crews or find another way for them to get to the destination. It really makes no sense.
Flight attendant here. This event has shown us in the airline industry that there are so many complexities of our business that are not known to the public.
Regarding this article there are two things I’d like to share with you:
1. Crews are not driven to airports over long distances, we don’t “must ride” on others carriers, and we can’t hire a charter plane to get us around (that one makes us laugh). We fly on our own airline and its subsidiaries. Our work hours are determined by FAA regulations..we can’t work over a certain number of hours a day, and we must have a certain amount of rest in-between duty periods. If the crew would have been driven to SDF, their rest would not have started until they got there. If they were scheduled to work the first flight out the next day, that one would now be delayed until legal rest was obtained. A domino effect of delayed flights would have occurred, potentially inconveniencing thousands.
2. Please Youtube “passenger dragged off of plane” and you will see numerous examples of this happening. How else do you think non-compliant passengers are removed? Most of the time, people just cooperate and walk off. For those that resist, they are removed by physical force. The same thing would happen in a mall, a movie theater, a concert, etc. What would the alternative be?
For anyone reading this…if you have questions about this event, please ask a flight crew member or gate agent if you know one. We tend to see this event in a different light than the public. Please learn more as opposed to jumping to conclusions.