United’s CEO issues third apology:
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/companies/united-munoz-apology/
Bottom line, some of us don’t think we should truckle to authoritarians, particularly authoritarians who are in the wrong as United was, and we certainly don’t think that lack of slavish knuckling under to petty tyrants justifies violence. And we’re mystified by people who do think it justifies violence.
What hasn’t been said here is that United has killed its customer service culture to one of nobody gives a damn. They pretty much hire anyone that can breathe and are willing to work for peanuts. Anyone who has flown a good European, Middle Eastern, or Asian airline will know what I’m talking about.
Well, Cardinal. I guess it’s a matter of contract law. If you agreed in your contract of carriage that you could be removed, then you are sort of stuck. Better drive next time!
And horrifying.
Especially to those of us who had firsthand experience with such societies, families who had, and/or who studied such societies in depth for years.
Seems to me it’s practically the definition of poor planning.
It is not the consumer’s problem that they run their operations so lean that the slightest hiccup causes ripple affects across multiple flights. If a mechanical problem causes your whole system to fall apart, and you solve it on the backs of your paying customers, then you haven’t planned properly.
The airlines can gauge demand and capacity and change prices on a second-by-second basis. They should be able to manage their personnel with equal skill. If they can’t… it’s because they didn’t plan properly!
I don’t believe it was racially motivated either, but people see what they want to see. If you live in Asia, and see the old Asian guy get dragged off an American place and beaten bloody, well… assumptions will be made.
NOW Munoz says the incident was “truly horrific.” Yeah, sure. He didn’t think it was horrific yesterday; he thought his employees actions were justified, and he defended them. Now that United has lost a billion dollars in stock valuation, that’s horrific.
I commend United for getting rid of whoever was running corporate communications yesterday, and hiring some competent people instead, but at this point, Munoz is just trying to keep his job. I hope he fails in that task.
United should have upped the $$$$. Someone was being cheap. The current problem is a whole lot more costly than it should have been.
CF, please do not attribute other people’s quotes to me. Thanks.
On CC over the years I have been a supporter of United. I currently have 1k status which is 100,000 flight miles per year. A few days ago I flew San Francisco to Shanghai. The attitude of the ground and flight crew towards passengers was the worst I have ever seen. It was basically big, loud, aggressive, threatening American staff trying to bully and dominate quiet Chinese women half their size.
I didn’t agree. I read the contract, and once I was boarded, I could only be removed for misbehavior or various other contingencies that didn’t happen. You may say that “boarding” doesn’t end until the plane takes off. Let’s see what a jury thinks.
You should have taken a video and posted it. One thing that is very clear to the airlines going forward is that the price of bad PR is very high.
The responses here have been fascinating. I am a very polite person IRL but I never automatically think I have to do what authority figures tell me. And sometimes I just don’t. In most cases I think I get to make up my own mind. Usually I just go with the flow, but not always. In this United situation, where they chose at random after no volunteers, I could well imagine telling them I was very sorry but it was just too inconvenient for me to be bumped. And in those circumstances I really can’t imagine anyone laying hands on me. Maybe I’m just naive, but I’m old and traveled a lot under all kinds of circumstances. Sometimes in circumstances where I wasn’t going with the flow, I’ve suggested we call my attorney to get his opinion what I should do, and that has ended the discussion immediately. Of course maybe it matters I’m a very small white lady. I don’t really look threatening to anybody.
Of course, I don’t think a 68 yr old Chinese man looks threatening either and look what happened to him.
They’ll probably put in a no-video clause in their contract.
Actually, most of the comments on East Asian News forums I’ve perused focused mainly on the fact he was an elderly person and the presumably trained security overreacted due to being drunk on power and/or were poorly trained in non-violent restraining methods.
The last part came from some interviewed folks/commentators who served their mandatory military service obligations(Taiwan/Singapore) in the national police force(Singapore) or military police units.
@alh - but do you speak jive? 
They will “solve” this by forbidding people to record videos on the plane, and suing people who do.
In post #301, I mistakenly attributed a quote to BunsenBurner. The quote was actually from thumper1, from post #282.
BunsenBurner, I apologize most abjectly. I should have been more careful. In future I will take more care not to mis-attribute. Unfortunately it’s too late to edit the erroneous post.
But this contract contains no such agreement whatsoever. It allows removal in specified, limited circumstances. Which did not include these circumstances. As has been repeatedly explained in this thread.
Another FB friend posted a competitor’s meme:
“Southwest: We beat our competitors. Not you.”
Also, an eyewitness account from a teacher who was with a group of students on that very same flight: