There’s been a tremendous amount of debate the past few days over airline involuntary boarding policies, after a man was dragged off a United flight when he refused to give up his seat when instructed to do so by the airline.
Some people think United shouldn’t have flown crew (needed for another flight back to Chicago) in place of passengers. Others think that they should have had to pay whatever price customers asked in order to get volunteers to give up their seats.
I’ve maintained that the Chicago Aviation Police, who appeared to respond with too much force when called, deserve more of the blame for the incident than they’re getting. (One officer has been placed on leave. Update: Now all 3 responding officers have been placed on leave.) I have caveated this noting that we didn’t have video of what transpired before the passenger was dragged off, or what happened while he was off the plane (before returning, dripping with blood, mumbling “please kill me”).
Miles to Memories highlights video we hadn’t seen before of the disagreement between the doctor and a police officer, before the passenger is dragged off the flight and bloodied.
It shows a calm passenger staking out his position, refusing to leave the aircraft because he has to work in the morning. He says he’d “rather go to jail” than get off the aircraft. He certainly does not appear violent or threatening. And though the video is incomplete it’s certainly consistent with believing the police overreacted in their use of force.
Overall my concern is that disagreeing with an airline employee has been turned into a crime. A fellow BoardingArea blogger was once removed from a flight for taking photos in the cabin (though he was willing to delete them). Today in my Facebook feed a friend shared, “I asked a flight attendant “please not to jam another bag on top of mine.” I was literally asked by her “are you going to be a problem? Do i need to call the police?”
A New York Times piece today leads with my concern for how airline customer service problems quickly escalate to criminal problems.
“There’s a lot of blame to go around, not the least of which is the overall culture of aviation where customer service issues have become law enforcement issues,” said Gary Leff, author of the travel blog Viewfromthewing.com. “Rather than practicing de-escalation, any disagreement with the crew becomes seen as a threat.”
How the industry reached the unfriendly skies is a journey that goes back to 9/11, which ushered in greater security regulations and carry-on restrictions. In the aftermath of 9/11, “not following crew instructions immediately could be seen as a threat, and they take all threats seriously,” Mr. Leff said. “Airline employees are in positions of extreme power and authority.” Noting that not all crews are authoritarian, he added, “the emphasis has shifted.”
This needs to change. Oscar Munoz says United will no longer call the police on a customer with a valid boarding pass for a flight who doesn’t want to leave their seat. That’s a fairly limited claim, and we’ll see how it works out. But threats to call law enforcement happen all the time, escalating minor conflicts. That’s not normal, and it needs to stop.
Finally Chicago aviation police has awakened and has placed the other two officers also on leave.
Gross misuse of powers by them for sure.
Just like any disaster, there is a ton of little mistakes and narrow policies that caused this.
– boarded the aircraft first and tried to remove people second.
– manager laughing at pax who volunteered for $1500
– no volunteers, they move to voluntolds.
– police seem to over-react
-the half-a**ed apology “we’re sorry but not sorry”
– the 2nd half-a**ed apology “I stand behind you, he was belligerent”
– United policies of not allowing the GA and agents to solve this using basic common sense
– letting him run back on the plane.
and finally
– beating a 69 year old man in front of his wife, in front of strangers who video taped the whole thing, then the agent who typed up the “description of the incident” that describes an aggressive and rude passenger who struck law enforcement first then “fell” and got a minor injury in fighting law enforcement.
The whole thing started out as a PR problem, mushroomed into a PR chaotic mess then mushroom-clouded into an absolute PR disaster.
Good read on why this always happens after 5 pm, and why metrics and excel are really to blame:
https://jethead.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/the-united-fiasco-from-a-cockpit-viewpoint/
Also, 9/11 is a straw man if ever there were one. It’s easier to call the cops than de-escalate, just like it’s easier for the cops to shoot someone or arrest someone and then say they were “resisting” after the fact. I don’t like the fact that UAL backs their employees unconditionally but it probably made business sense up until now – it pushes metal on time.
I have said this from the get-go (a rare case when @Gary and I agree 😉 ):
Another unambiguous incident of “police” brutality in America has been hyped 24/7, with the mass hysteria forcing the one entity that did things “by the book” — the airline — to suffer the consequences, while the real culprits — the “police” — are almost completely ignored. You take out the roughing up of the passenger and there is no drama at all, which tells you all you need to know…
…nevertheless, take this simple quiz if you are still unsure:
There is a disturbance in your neighborhood. You call the cops or 911 — it’s legal and recommended in America. Police officers show up, but instead of trying to defuse the situation, they inflame it by roughing people up, or a trigger happy cop shoots and kills someone. Is it your fault for calling the cops? See how simple and clear that is?
G’day.
Wow. This is all that happened before they violently yanked him out of his seat?
I was once on an AA flight JFK to LHR in an exit row and my IFE screen was inoperable. It was the kind that folded into the seat armrest. I noticed this before take off. I politely asked if they could look at it and was told by an extremely rude FA that they could not. I asked if I could move to a different seat and he responded with “Do you want to fly with us today sir?”. This is standard operating procedure. My secret fantasy when I get a super rude FA is to respond with “Do I smell alcohol on your breath – I think you’ve been drinking – can we call a supervisor – it’s not safe for this aircraft to fly”. I’ve never done it… but man, how I’d love to.
Absolves the victim even more. A gate manager should have been there negotiating with him. When it was clear he wanted to use the seat he’d paid for and even had reasons he gave he could not give it up, they should have moved on and upped the offer. At $1000 they should have gotten buy in. They can also endorse over the ticket to AA which has flights or book any airlines connections to get them there same day. Airlines are told not to offer endorsing over to another airline but will do it if you insist, as I found out when Delta tried to re-route me for two days delay from Europe when I discovered there was a nonstop leaving to my destination on American in an hour with empty seats. Practical decisions, folks, before brutality.
Oscar Munoz should put out a new public statement apologizing for his initial report that the passenger was “belligerent”
AND ALSO SHAME HIS OWN EMPLOYEES FOR FABRICATING SUCH A DESCRIPTION
His first letter even praised his employees for going “above and beyond,” what a sick joke
I said this many times. Airline personnel feel they are above FBI now and can do whatever they want to make your life miserable. Your example about the guy asking for the FA to be careful with his bag is a sad example that made me keep my mouth shut from the time I enter one airport until the time I leave the other one. I only open my mouth if I am asked something and even that I measure my words very carefully. Traveling by air has become a pain and althought I travel a lot for business I avoid it as much as I can. However the other day my flight was very delayed and I had a very tight connection. I boarded the plane on first class with a small carry on and as soon as I got to the door a very rude FA told me I had to check the bag. I was the second person boarding the plane and explained him that not only I had a very tight connection due to the flight being delayed I knew my bag would fit because I came on the exact same plane and my bag was fine. He got very upset and told me again it was too big and I had to check it. I politely asked if I could try it and if it did not fit I would bring it back. He nodded his head in disapproval but let me in. Of course the bag fit just fine and with extra space for many other bags. I don’t understand why these people that only have a job because we fly their planes have to be so rude and customer unfriendly.
United Airlines will really have to deal with this fallout in order to survive as a brand, and to stay in the black. He is passively and verbally resisting. In fact, he sounds quite calm and reasonable. In the worst case for him, the Chicago Police could have been asked to arrest him, and in fact, he agreed to be arrested in the video.
The general public is horrified to see how it all went down. Despite his shady past, what people resonate with is this elderly grandfather 69 yrs old being violently removed from the flight. That is unbelievable, and for most people, we never imagined this could happen.
As I’ve said, context is very important: removing people who are drunk & assaultive, committing terrorist acts, etc. If a violent drunk passenger got removed like this, w/bloody nose, people probably would not object so much to it.
However, somebody who bought a ticket, has generally been cooperative, is now seated on a flight, and doesn’t want to leave– seems reasonable to object.
Think of any other situation in a store or a restaurant. Of course it’s not justified for an employee or security guard to use physical force to push a person out, slamming their head in the process on the table, wall, or floor. Even if it is private property and you can refuse service. If worse came to worse, the police would come and arrest the person.
And again, an area that will be carefully scrutinized is what exactly did the United Airlines supervisor tell the Chicago Aviation Police? Did he/she misportray the situation and make it sound like he was physically violent or belligerent or dangerous? There is a big difference between that and this video, verbally and calmly stating that he won’t go.
Another point to make is: even if we don’t fully trust the accounts by the passenger or the airline employees, you have ~70 passengers whose views we are more likely to trust. Any passenger who was there sides with the passenger, and is horrified/disgusted by what happened. That is already a big clue. Even if we can’t fully trust the accounts of the 2 main parties due to their biases, we are more able to trust the passengers who witnessed the event, who we believe would have started off impartial more or less.
Yes the police are at fault for not knowing how to diffuse the situation and for using force. They should be trained for that. These officers clearly are in the wrong profession. I suggest they apply to be bouncers at a nightclub. That being said the gate agent was an arrogant idiot and invited these officers onboard and that is why United is ultimately to blame. Where was the pilot in all of this? I think it’s outrageous that the pilot allowed this to happen under his watch and didn’t even bother to come out of the cockpit. Nothing Oscar Munoz says at this point will make a difference. He expressed his true feelings immediately after the incident and all this backtracking is nothing but a crock of BS to cover up United’s bad press. It’s time for him to go and it’s time for Congress to get a backbone and stop airlines from abusing their passengers for no legitimate reason.
GG “My secret fantasy when I get a super rude FA is to respond with “Do I smell alcohol on your breath – I think you’ve been drinking – can we call a supervisor – it’s not safe for this aircraft to fly”. I’ve never done it… but man, how I’d love to.”
Man oh man is that ever the nuclear option. But it is an idea and I now have it deep, (like really deep) in my back pocket.
@Mark. I agree. Where was the pilot in all of this? But maybe trying to descalate a potentially volatile situation was way way way above his/her paygrade.
Let’s be clear: The PD will be facing some problems (mostly because they conducted a false arrest).
But, Mr. Lett, please respond to my 2 critiques in your analysis:
1. The police would not have been there if not called by UA. What possible policy, rule or common sense brain cell makes calling the police to address an administrative issue are you willing to articulate? The police are for criminal matters, not to arbitrate non-criminal matters. Law “ENFORCEMENT”.
2. The police used too much force: Again, the PD will answer to this, but UA called them. What do YOU think they expected? We all watch TV, maybe have seen police in action, or even have friends in the profession. They ask, then move on to force. They do not back off. Every attempt (level of force) is tried, then escalated. They will not try a little bit then leave. Ever. And we all know this. They are not trained to be Dr. Phil. They have no Vulcan Nerve Pinch or Jedi Powers. Please tell all of us what tool or training in use by police SHOULD have been used?
Not what you think they “should” have (because we all think PD should be able to fix our computer, know directions to every spot on earth, have a magic solution to every problem)?
We are all waiting to hear your response.
Respectfully;
john
Have to agree with Mark. The pilot is in charge of the situation and failed to use any shred of common sense or humanity to deescalate it or find an alternate solution. He should be disciplined along with the overreaching gate agents and police, and Munoz should be put out to pasture. Maybe there is an opening for him at Spirit Airlines.
Once I was flying back from Peru in economy, with a large, rigid rolling backpack as my only piece of carry-on. It is the size of a small suitcase, too large to compfortably store under the seat for such a long flight so I made sure I boarded on time to find a spot in the overhead and was relieved when I did. Later, a surly male FA opened the overhead and asked who the backpack belonged to. He said it had to go under my seat, and before I could say a word he pulled it out and was shoving it under my legs. I said I didn’t want to travel that way and wanted it to stay where it was and attempted to return it. He blocked my way and seemed to be ready to duke it out. I stood in the aisle, stayed calm and asked him to call the head FA, who agreed it was unreasonable and the other passenger could gate check his bag. Otherwise I could easy have seen it escalating and maybe I would have been That Guy. That’s the point. People in positions of power need to think rationally and calmly and not throw their weight around.
If the airline employees and even the president of the airlines can’t be relied on to honestly describe the situation and the behavior of the passenger, even after the fact, then how can the gate agent and flight attendants be relied on to accurately and professionally describe the circumstances to the chicago aviation police. There is no telling what was said by the united employess to the police prior to their removing this passenger. I do however, doubt that the gate agent said to the cops, please be courteous and thoughtful to our passengers because they have done nothing wrong and the mistakes and fouled up situation are totally our and our airlines fault.
I think the airlines are getting squeezed by the low cost carriers on more and longer routes, as well as the foreign governement subsidized carriers who are taking lucrative long haul routes and out classing the legacy carriers in both planes and service.
United and the US carriers are trying to fly smaller planes on more and longer routes to fight back, but not only is this causing passenger discomfort and delays but crew and logistics headaches for the airline staff. It is not a pretty picture and it won’t I think end well for the large us legacy carriers who are to a large extent surviving off of merger cost cutting that won’t last for long. If fuel prices hadn’t dropped I believe we would have already seen the results of this: either another round of mergers to buy out competitors or another round of bankruptcies, but something has to give. The Passengers won’t put up with this for long either.
@Mark sez: “Blah…blah…blah… and invited these officers onboard and that is why United is ultimately to blame.”
Nonsense. UA is “ultimately to blame” for doing what they were SUPPOSED TO DO under the circumstances?! They did it by the book. There is plenty of blame to go around, but not for calling the Chicago Aviation agents, who get paid precisely to deal with such incidents. The trouble was that such agents are generally all-muscles and no-brain ‘bouncers’ who have zero training on how to deal with such incidents without using force!
You just failed this quiz publicly:
There is a disturbance in your neighborhood. You call the cops or 911 — it’s legal and recommended in America. Police officers show up, but instead of trying to defuse the situation, they inflame it by roughing people up, or a trigger happy cop shoots and kills someone. Is it your fault for calling the cops? See how simple and clear that is?
G’day.
The aviation police are the airlines mafia thugs. They do the what the airlines tell them to do. Most businesses have to pay for security but aviation police are just another form of corporate welfare for the airlines.
The principle that is so clear is that United and AA both treat their employees better than their customer and they hide behind their union contacts to get away with their bad treatment of customers. I don’t think any of the Far East or the Gulf come close to treating their employees better than customers so it’s no great surprise that American flag are in the toilet on customer satisfaction. It’s sad what an entitlement work force can do to a company. As a retired Army officer we would never ever want better treatment than our customer. The idea of self sacrifice is dead on “most” US carriers so it’s time to stop whining about superior foreign carriers.
@DCS… Yes, United is ultimately to blame. It’s their aircraft and they invited/asked the officers to board the aircraft. Most likely they gave the officers misleading information instead of identifying the real reason for the problem in the first place. The plane was not over booked and NOBODY should have been removed from the aircraft. If United wanted people to give up their seats they should have raised the price they were willing to pay until someone was willing to accept their offer. I don’t consider an $800 voucher a very good effort. I am tired of people making excuses for the airline when they are clearly in the wrong and will pay out a huge settlement. Not only was this passengers face bloodied so was his reputation when someone starting digging through his personal life to find something negative to trash him about. Shame on who ever did that and shame on United and Mr. Munoz. #fireoscar
@Mark — Suppositions and conjectures, not even hearsay, about what UA might or might not have told the agents are proof of NOTHING.
There is nothing in your post that points to anything UA did that supports the claim that they are “ultimately to blame.” They did what they and other airlines have done countless times in cases of non-compliant passengers, which was to report them to law enforcement officials. United would have been liable if they had not brought in the official “bouncers” and the situation still escalated to the level it did. They did not bloody the passenger or ruin his reputation. The “cops” did the former, and the passenger did the latter all by himself by being non-compliant.
You took the simple quiz and failed it. Now take it again and see if the parallel and the obvious simple answer will make more sense about where the blame ultimately lies…
Well, well, Gary obliquely blames United. What a turnaround. Come on Gary. Apologise and move on
No, DCS, you fail, because your analogy is flawed. This is not calling the cops because of a disturbance- Mr Dao was sitting peacefully in his legally purchased seat, and per United’s own rules, there were not grounds to remove him from the plane.
A better analogy is you are the manager of a busy restaurant. On your website, it says you seat people at 6:30 and 8 pm, but one party is lingering, because, say, the man is planning on proposing and is nervous about asking his girlfriend.
You
a) Politely request them to move for your incoming patrons, but if they don’t move, find alternate accommodation for your other guests
b) Offer them a free dessert and a bottle of champagne if they would move to the bar
c) Calll the cops, who drag the man out back and beat him silly
Since you went with C, you fail. Just like United. And yes, the manager didn’t tell him to batter the customer, but if he didn’t over-escalate the situation and call the cops, the beating would not have happened. So the restaurant, and United bear the ultimate responsibility- he’s their customer, and guest, and should be treated as such.
@DCS
Plain and simple. United Express is the name on the plane and ultimately they take the blame. Obviously you do not understand the concept of corporate image. Not one headline, not one lead-in on national news,…none stated anything about the aviation police. I suggest you stop writing quizzes.
Given the nature of eyewitness and video accounts, why haven’t the police officers been arrested for use of excessive force, a form of assault, a felony? It’s not a stretch for a prosecutor to make that decision given the totality of the circumstances. The arresting officers should be booked… all three.. mainly because none of them intervened to stop the obvious use of excessive force.
The assault happened not only on the plane, FAA jurisdiction, but also at the airport or county, under local jurosdiction. Filing a false police report will also be an issue. Perhaps by United if they exaggerated the reason for the arrest or that situation, and also by the police that claimed the doctor “fell” which is difficult to believe given the way they treated him on the plane.
As for United… I will fly every discount airline on the planet if this is the best a name brand has to offer.
One immediate prediction, the CEO will be out by Monday 4/18. If he cant manage this simple communication, he is useless. I dont think he can handle the bad publicity generated by a lost luggage claim.
Did he come from American Airlines? Anyway, a new Board of Directors is needed if you are a shareholder. You will want Directors that know how to screen CEO candidates.
No Gary, what needs to change is the fact that customers have no rights and airlines can do anything they want. Things escalate because the law allows them to.
Had the customer had any legal rights, the cops would have been on his side.
THAT is the rokt of the cause, and no handwaving at peripheral issues will fix it. Until the law is on the airline’s side, they will continue to call free to them (taxpayer-funded) cops to call on customers who are in the moral right, like the hero doctor here.
DCS,
gg’day
@DCS Sorry but I hardly think United did things by the book. I’m not even convinced what they did was legal. This appears to be a denial of transport issue not a denial of boarding since the man was already on the plane and seated before they tried to remove him. Its really questionable whether or not United breached their own contract. Let alone all the mistakes they made that led to this situation.
Paul S says:
April 12, 2017 at 4:28 pm
GG “My secret fantasy when I get a super rude FA is to respond with “Do I smell alcohol on your breath – I think you’ve been drinking – can we call a supervisor – it’s not safe for this aircraft to fly”. I’ve never done it… but man, how I’d love to.”
Man oh man is that ever the nuclear option. But it is an idea and I now have it deep, (like really deep) in my back pocket.
Well thought out. You accuse them and the company removes the crewmember, administers a breathalyzer which shows the claim was baseless and sends the individual home for the rest of the day. This all causes an extensive delay for yourself and all the other passengers on the flight. Yeah. You showed them.
@George sez: “No, DCS, you fail, because your analogy is flawed. This is not calling the cops because of a disturbance- Mr Dao was sitting peacefully in his legally purchased seat, and per United’s own rules, there were not grounds to remove him from the plane. ”
No. Dr. Dao “won the lottery” and was told the prize was to get off the plane and he refused, likely quietly, but he was not compliant. In case of a non-compliant passenger, regardless of their reason, airlines call law enforcement officials, which UA did..
Massaging the narrative to suit your viewpoint does not alter what happened or why the ‘bouncers’ were brought on board. There was a non-complain passenger, and UA did what the books call for. Period.
@Bill — Take a deep breath — you and everyone else. The incident will be reviewed and a determination will be made. More conjectures at this point just makes you feel good but is largely irrelevant.
BTW, you failed the simple quiz. The cops are to blame whenever they use excessive force to try defuse a situation involving civilians and end up aggravating it. The people that call the cops do what is recommended and are not responsible for what the cops do when they arrive on the scene, which has been increasingly ending up as blatant cases of POLICE BRUTALITY — like this incident.
G’day
@DCS- guess you took my quiz and failed it- implicitly, you are saying you would have called the cops and had the guy beaten up. Hope that you stay out of any service business (but don’t you work for an airline?)
I agree with you that we will see this reviewed and determined- Mr Dao’s lawyers have already asked for all the evidence to be preserved. Here’s hoping that he doesn’t just settle for a big boatload of cash, but rather takes this to court and gets the right decision- United violated their CoC’s, escalated the situation unnecessarily, and will be held responsible for his injuries.
You all do know by now that the sordid past belongs to another guy with the same name? The United passenger should sue the newspapers for publishing before verifying!
Don’t argue with DCS he doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. Such stupidity.
@George sez: “…implicitly, you are saying you would have called the cops and had the guy beaten up.”
Not even close. I am saying you cannot blame a 911 caller for ensuing police brutality.
@Mark — “Stupidity” is to go low when you can’t make a coherent argument or refute one. Get lost.
United is a horrible airline. I won’t fly them any more after an incident where they cancelled my flight without notification and then re-accommodated me at another airport, refused to pay for my cab to the other airport and seated me literally underneath a 500+ Lb man who was so big, I couldn’t pull down my table top. I complained and they gave me a voucher for $50 and I told them never mind, I would never fly on their airline again and I haven’t. I still grind my teeth thinking about the incident. This man is so sad.
This was not an overbooked situation. That crew should not have been able bump passengers because of their poor planning. United has a horrible attitude toward the public. It is very evident in this very upsetting video.
This video clearly shows that the passenger’s SEAT WAS FULLY RECLINED BEFORE TAKE-OFF. Is there any question who is at fault here. LOL
These unfriendly customer services are all part of the results of allowing the crazy mergers over the past one or two decades. Have customers received any benefits from all the mergers? Less competition, higher price, more lousy services. Basic economics.
@DCS – UAL staff and Chicago aviation security officers were equally to blame here. UAL staff is to blame for FALSELY calling the security officers: They had no basis under their Contract of Carriage with the passenger to request the officers deplane the passenger. Once they allowed the passenger to board the plane, they were operating under a complete misuse of Rule 25 of the CoC when they called for the jackboot solution. Aviation security is to blame for not doing a proper investigation BEFORE assaulting the passenger and improperly (illegally?) deplaning him. They clearly did not know the bumping rules under Rule 25 and clearly did not ask to the gate agent to provide them before arrest. If they had, of course any reasonable officer would ask the agent: “Rule 25 says you – the gate agent – can ‘deny boarding’. It does not say I – the cop – have the authority to deplane a passenger for you that you failed to deny boarding to. Under what authority can I forcibly remove this man who, to this point, has been peaceably asserting his right to fly with you today?”
I’m tired of the argument that because he was already boarded that it doesn’t fall under “denied boarding”. The CoC does not define it that way. Most importantly, it has been interpreted for decades to include people who have already boarded. We’ve all received compensation (at statutory and contractual levels) for being “bumped” (both voluntary and involuntary) after we’ve already boarded. I don’t want to give that up.
why didn’t he just comply with the airline and police commands to exit the A/C like the other three passengers did. Had he done that, then he would not have sustained any injuries. It was HIS refusal too obey commands, that caused this incident too escalate. Not the Airlines or Police. IT IS ALL HIS FAULT!! PERIOD!! He should accept responsibility for his actions. The other three passengers are injury free with money in their pockets.
@aviators. You can be tired of the argument, but it’s irrelevant. The airline knows a reasonable jury for Dao will read “deny boarding” as different from “forcibly deplane”. Just one of many reasons they will settle long before trial. Besides, you don’t need to worry: Once the airline understands that there are now major downsides to deplaning, they’ll offer you more to voluntarily leave your seat. FWIW, I fly about five times a year – mostly United – and have never seen them ask for seated people to get off the plane. Not saying it’s not common, but we haven’t all received such compensation after boarding.
What is needed is a passengers bill of rights. Those two police officers who watched as the third dragged the man off of the plane should also be written up under ‘dereliction of duty’. This whole incident was a PR disaster for United.
There is no shortage of errors. For everyone who is arguing about the use of the term “boarding” I would also feel, that I have boarded the aircraft once I walk through the doors. The term we should be judging was when the manager announced on the blame that unless she had four “volunteers”, she would choose four “volunteers” at random. That word “volunteer” would have been hilarious if this incident wasn’t so serious.
It was all the passengers fault. All he had to do was comply he refused and actually dared them to drag him out.
@DCS. If you want to defend United be my guest. Your logic is unbelievably warped and you’ll be proven wrong when this gentleman is awarded millions of dollars in damages for United’s conduct. If you’re a guest in my house and I call the police and tell them you committed a crime even though you did nothing wrong I assure you I would be held responsible just like the police if they came and beat up the individual for no legal reason and I was the one who instigated their presence. United invited those officers onboard their airplane and what they did afterwards was a direct result of that invitation. Both parties will be held responsible for their stupidity and brutality.
If you went to Mcdonalds and ordered a meal, paid for a meal, were given a meal, took it to the table, then a manager said she will give you a free voucher for another burger tomorrow if she can have your sandwich back…….we’d all say no. If she then announced they are out of burgers and have to feed the staff so she is going to choose people randomly to take away the burgers. Then calls the cops to back him/her up and take your burger. The the cops slammed your head into the table and dragged you out of the restaurant (bleeding) while other diners recorded the event on their phones.
I think we all would be upset
@Mark and @ Paul S. Two spot-on analogies.
Moron Polo, if only the colonialists had just paid the tax like the king said, Rosa Parks would have moved when told by the police, etc..
As per usual with authoritarian bootlickers you’re as unpatriotic as you are ignorant of basic human rights. Dr. Dao will be paid at least $20-50 million for standing up for his rights, are you jealous that this Viet immigrant who raised 4 doctors is considered by society a better American than you? You missed a spot on the Nazi cop’s boot!
All crew members are professionals and should be treated as such. You don’t know what the last rude passenger said to them, for them to be having a bad day. If you accuse them of drinking, plan on a very lengthy delay for the crew members to be tested and for you to be removed from the flight. All of the passengers will hopefully be able to personally thank you for an additional 2 hour delay. If the airline is smart, you should get the bill for the additional incurred costs. If you think the common courtesies of flying don’t apply to you, then drive yourself or take Greyhound!
Besides the endless talk of whether United should have offered more as compensation:
“Today in my Facebook feed a friend shared, “I asked a flight attendant “please not to jam another bag on top of mine.” I was literally asked by her “are you going to be a problem? Do i need to call the police?” This really struck a nerve. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard flight attendants being nasty to customers who ask a simple question. It’s got nothing to do with security or post-911. Some little people get a little bit of power and bam! They enjoy it just a tad too much. So do we now live in a country where we have to have permission from an Airline to speak or, if not, risk being thrown off our flight or be arrested?
De-escalation training is sorely needed. As well as training in common sense, common decency, treating customers (ALL customers, not just first class) with respect and dignity.
However, customers also need to be respectful and get over being entitled. I don’t care if you are a doctor and you have patients. You should not get special treatment just because of that. We all have busy lives, we all need to be somewhere, do our jobs, etc. That statement, “I’m a doctor and…..” just gets me going as well.