United changes crew booking policy after passenger dragged off plane

[rooster59]

United changes crew booking policy after passenger dragged off plane

 

A United Airline Boeing 737-800 aircraft lands at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski

 

REUTERS - United Airlines said on Friday it is changing its policy on booking its own flight crews onto its planes after a man was dragged off an overbooked flight to make way for a United employee on Sunday, video of which went viral and made the airline the target of global criticism and ridicule.

 

The airline, owned by United Continental Holdings Inc, said it would make sure crews traveling on their aircraft are booked into seats at least 60 minutes before departure.

 

It said the new policy would ensure that a situation in which a passenger is forcibly removed from a plane does not occur again. United said the change is an initial step as it reviews policies in order to "deliver the best customer experience."

 

The passenger ejected from the plane, David Dao, suffered a significant concussion, broken nose and lost two front teeth in the incident, and will need reconstructive surgery, according to his attorney, Thomas Demetrio, who has signaled that Dao will likely sue the airline.

 

United's board said on Friday the company had to craft policies to win back customer trust and apologized to Dao and his family. It added that it stands behind Chief Executive Oscar Munoz, who has been under fire in the wake of the incident. Munoz has said he has no plans to resign.

 

Even before this week, Munoz was under pressure from activist investors to improve the airline's performance, including its customer relations.

 

In an unrelated incident, a United passenger complained that a scorpion stung him during a flight from Texas, also on Sunday.

 

A physician on the ground assured the crew that "it was not a life-threatening matter," United spokeswoman Maddie King said in an email on Friday, adding that the airline is "reaching out to the customer to apologize and discuss the matter."

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-15

[Panda13]

"I've just been stung by a scorpion, is there a doctor on board?
"Uhhh.. not any more"

[darksidedog]

If they had been using this more sensible policy in the first place, they wouldn't have the current drama and bad press.

It is sad that such an incident has to happen before a major airline decides to start treating its customers with a little respect.

I hope they are equally speedy to offer Mr. Dao a very generous compensation package.

[colinneil]

The airline is reaching out to the customer to apologize and discuss the matter.   

Bit late for that, just pay up and shut up.

Edited April 15, 2017 by colinneil

[55Jay]

A good move by United.  Belated.  Reluctantly.  It's such a reasonable sounding policy, nearly defies logic to think it wasn't the policy in the first place or that it's needed at all. 

 

Had you told me this United story as fiction before it happened, I probably would of said, "Naw, mate, United's not THAT stupid, never going to happen like that."

 

But that's the world and society we live in.  I reckon 98% (+/-) of the people in the world are decent folks, but the way our society and systems work,  we have to put more policies and laws in place to control yet another new low in human behavior by the 1 or 2%. 

 

If old Moses were a still around, he would would be Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and ThaiVisa via Android App..... "Jeez, come on you numpties, there's only 10!  How bloody hard can it be for Ch***t's Sake!" 

[bmore99]

Policy change on crew? Not really.
They will now make sure the crew is accomodated before other passengers, so the paying customers can be rejected before boarding. The priority is still on the crew.
Real policy change would be to stop overbooking.

Sent from my SM-A800F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[thaihome]

1 hour ago, bmore99 said:

Policy change on crew? Not really.
They will now make sure the crew is accomodated before other passengers, so the paying customers can be rejected before boarding. The priority is still on the crew.
Real policy change would be to stop overbooking.

Sent from my SM-A800F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

Overbooking is not the issue and should allowed. What needs to change is involuntary denial. A full auction should take place untill somebody volunteers.  Volunteering is good thing and makes people very happy.

 

I have done it a few times in order to upgrades and lounge access while waiting  for next flight in a couple of hours. Once volunteered to move from a United flight SFO to Narita to Japan Airlines 40 minutes later. The inducement was you could still smoke on  the Japan flight. Haver never volunteered for a 24 hour delay though. That would have to serious cash, vouchers wouldn't cut it.

TH 

[bmore99]

 
Overbooking is not the issue and should allowed. What needs to change is involuntary denial. A full auction should take place untill somebody volunteers.  Volunteering is good thing and makes people very happy.
...

Allow overbooking and not allow involuntary denial. What happens then when not enough people volunteer? Stalemate? System halted?

Sent from my SM-A800F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[thaihome]

3 minutes ago, bmore99 said:

Allow overbooking and not allow involuntary denial. What happens then when not enough people volunteer? Stalemate? System halted?

Sent from my SM-A800F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Keep raising the offer. Somebody will take it eventually. Airlines might not like it, but the the free, unregulated market, should work both ways.

TH 

[jerojero]

Policy change on crew? Not really.

They will now make sure the crew is accomodated before other passengers, so the paying customers can be rejected before boarding. The priority is still on the crew.

Real policy change would be to stop overbooking.

 

Sent from my SM-A800F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

Precisely. They will not stop overbooking because revenue will drop. Then Munoz will not get his $5MM annual bonus. Hope regular customers see this move as the b's it is and take their business permanently elsewhere.

 

[NoBrainer]

Change the whole Airline ticketing policy. Sell only 100% of available seats, and then if the purchaser does not show up for the flight, they simply lose the ticket.

Same as a sporting event. There are no refunds, or "We will let you attend the next game", in sporting events.

Buy a ticket, use it or lose it.

In that scenario there is zero need for over booking and airlines can get paid for every seat sold, whether it is used or not.

Would also make people far more conscientious about getting to the airport on time.

[klauskunkel]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

the airline is "reaching out to the customer

make sure you don't touch while reaching out...

Edited April 15, 2017 by klauskunkel

[metisdead]

It is perfectly acceptable to report on events and give opinions, it is not acceptable to post in an offensive manner in which to bash a specific country. One post has been removed as well as the replies.  

[Fore Man]

1 hour ago, NoBrainer said:

Change the whole Airline ticketing policy. Sell only 100% of available seats, and then if the purchaser does not show up for the flight, they simply lose the ticket.

Same as a sporting event. There are no refunds, or "We will let you attend the next game", in sporting events.

Buy a ticket, use it or lose it.

In that scenario there is zero need for over booking and airlines can get paid for every seat sold, whether it is used or not.

Would also make people far more conscientious about getting to the airport on time.

That's a bit severe IMO.  There should be exclusions for certain categories...such as inability to catch a connecting flight due to the late arrival of the inbound leg; medical emergencies that occur within a specified period of time prior to check-in; other bonafide emergencies such as vehicular accidents enroute to the airport; force majeure events etc. If carriers ratchet things down too tight, the flying public will vote with their feet and the frequency, route variety and overall availability of air service will suffer.  Common sense must prevail both ways. 

Edited April 15, 2017 by Fore Man
Typos

[IAMHERE]

I read between the lines that the true customers were boarded unto the plane and then United decided to add the 4 crew members; they can 'debook' any customer to add a crew member that needs to get to some airport at anytime.

Worst thing about this episode is that customers do not have equal protection under the law (a guarantee according to constitution). All men are created equal except when deciding who to kick off a plane, then the airlines get to arrange passengers into classes according to some algorithm they thought up. In any case all people are not treated equally and it is the law of the land.

[sawadeeken]

I am a 2.4 Million Mile Flyer with UNITED....... Since 1999 I'v done over 100,000 miles a year, Mostly USA to Thailand almost monthly......... I have been 'Onboard' a lot and I have seen UNITED steadily going down into this 'Cesspool' they have made for themselves. Now I must say that they are near the bottom of their "personal Cesspool" and I can only smile......... They are a 'perfect' example of "Big Business" in the USA, Thinking not of customers but the "Almighty Dollar".............

The Millions of Dollars they have to pay to settle this won't hurt them but I Personally Hope, that it will take a bit of the 'smirk' off their face....... It has put a bit of a 'smirk' on my face and it should do the same for the 'Doctor' soon...........    

RIP...... UNITED              (I've been with you "TOO LONG")

"FRIENDLY SKIES" ....................... B. S.     ..........

[Mansell]

7 hours ago, Panda13 said:

"I've just been stung by a scorpion, is there a doctor on board?
"Uhhh.. not any more"

Good one Panda.

i saw one on Facebook. United now has the Red Eye and the Black Eye.

[Gulfsailor]

2 hours ago, NoBrainer said:

Change the whole Airline ticketing policy. Sell only 100% of available seats, and then if the purchaser does not show up for the flight, they simply lose the ticket.

Same as a sporting event. There are no refunds, or "We will let you attend the next game", in sporting events.

Buy a ticket, use it or lose it.

In that scenario there is zero need for over booking and airlines can get paid for every seat sold, whether it is used or not.

Would also make people far more conscientious about getting to the airport on time.

Then you'll get a problem with high tier members. When I was platinum at KLM Air France I could book a seat up to 2 hours before departure. Guaranteed seat. This means that if the flight was full, someone else was booted off to make space. Even in business class, in which case an existing passenger would be downgraded to economy (courtesy of KLM :-))

[sawadeeken]

7 minutes ago, Gulfsailor said:

Then you'll get a problem with high tier members. When I was platinum at KLM Air France I could book a seat up to 2 hours before departure. Guaranteed seat. This means that if the flight was full, someone else was booted off to make space. Even in business class, in which case an existing passenger would be downgraded to economy (courtesy of KLM :-))

Yup...... The USA isn't the only place "Big -Business" Only thinks about the 'Almighty Dollar"..........

Could there be a bit of it here in Thailand??????????    I Wonder.......... LOL  .....

[djayz]

7 hours ago, Panda13 said:

"I've just been stung by a scorpion, is there a doctor on board?
"Uhhh.. not any more"

LMAO! ????? Too good

[djayz]

It's a bit late now United... Shame on you! 

[stevenl]

That's a bit severe IMO.  There should be exclusions for certain categories...such as inability to catch a connecting flight due to the late arrival of the inbound leg; medical emergencies that occur within a specified period of time prior to check-in; other bonafide emergencies such as vehicular accidents enroute to the airport; force majeure events etc. If carriers ratchet things down too tight, the flying public will vote with their feet and the frequency, route variety and overall availability of air service will suffer.  Common sense must prevail both ways. 

Buy insurance for those categories.

sent using Tapatalk

[thaihome]

1 hour ago, sawadeeken said:

I am a 2.4 Million Mile Flyer with UNITED....... Since 1999 I'v done over 100,000 miles a year, Mostly USA to Thailand almost monthly......... I have been 'Onboard' a lot and I have seen UNITED steadily going down into this 'Cesspool' they have made for themselves. Now I must say that they are near the bottom of their "personal Cesspool" and I can only smile......... They are a 'perfect' example of "Big Business" in the USA, Thinking not of customers but the "Almighty Dollar".............

The Millions of Dollars they have to pay to settle this won't hurt them but I Personally Hope, that it will take a bit of the 'smirk' off their face....... It has put a bit of a 'smirk' on my face and it should do the same for the 'Doctor' soon...........    

RIP...... UNITED              (I've been with you "TOO LONG")

"FRIENDLY SKIES" ....................... B. S.     ..........

I tend to disagree in placing the entire blame on "corporate greed" though that certainly plays a significant part in the disintegration of service in the US airline industry.

 

I truly believe that it has more to do with management not showing leadership and emphasizing service and fair treatment of customers as an important part of an airlines mission. That can be done without impacting profitability and often can increases it.

 

I believe it's just plain laziness and  a disconnect to the human condition taught by the leading business schools for the past 40 years.

TH 

 

[Suradit69]

8 hours ago, Panda13 said:

"I've just been stung by a scorpion, is there a doctor on board?
"Uhhh.. not any more"

I've just eaten some airline food. Is there a doctor on board?

[uptoyoumyfriend]

i try not to fly any american airlines any more  for some years as their service  has gone down the drain considerably.

pennywise and dollar foolish they have lost an unbelievable amount of business and money with their pettiness. i used to fly several times a year rt  with delta.now only korean and others like lufthansa,also now bad, and other "europeans".

i heard their stock value dropped one billion after that incident, and there will be no turnaround ,trust me!

 

[Suradit69]

28 minutes ago, thaihome said:

I truly believe that it has more to do with management not showing leadership and emphasizing service and fair treatment of customers as an important part of an airlines mission.

It's been a number of years since I last flew on United. The cabin crew was pretty bad, but the people I had to deal with at check-in and for boarding were positively obnoxious ... to everyone. They clearly didn't give a flying f---.

 

The flight I was taking was from Chicago to LA where I would have minimal time to make it to a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok and it all began with United massively overbooking the flight to LA. Their solution was to change aircraft to something larger that would accommodate all the people booked. Then they discovered the original pilot for the smaller aircraft wasn't certified to fly the larger plane and they called someone off duty resting at home who was qualified to come play pilot. He took his sweet time showing up.

 

Just managed to board the Thai flight before the doors closed.

[Jonmarleesco]

'Munoz has said he has no plans to resign. Even before this week ... was under pressure from activist investors to improve the airline's performance, including its customer relations.'

 

He might not be given the choice.

[sikishrory]

I fly with lots of different airlines all over the world because of work. United is definately the crappest in my memory.

Service is terrible/non existant and check in slow.

The worst thing being there booking policy. With every other airline I can think of (except american airlines) the process is simple. You book a ticket, check in and get a boarding pass with a seat number on it. For some reason American and United airlines can't grasp this concept. With them you book a ticket, check in and get a boarding pass with no seat number a lot of the time. You have to go to the gate and check in again to get a seat. Basically if they can they overbook flights and the people that don't fit have to wait for another flight. The only reason I can think of is greed.

Asian airlines are miles ahead of these idiots.

[dazzz]

I am a bit puzzled by this event . Not being a frequent flier perhaps i am wrong but when a klm flight i was on was overbooked  the passengers who did not get a seat where told  before they boarded the plane . they asked people at the gate to volunteer for a later flight or a flight with another airline with an upgrade . No problems with volunteers on that flight
The gate is closed at least 30 mins before you board the plane so any overbooking would be know by then . Seems to me this was not overbooked but they decided at the last minute they wanted to send their staff to another airport?
 

[stevenl]

26 minutes ago, dazzz said:

I am a bit puzzled by this event . Not being a frequent flier perhaps i am wrong but when a klm flight i was on was overbooked  the passengers who did not get a seat where told  before they boarded the plane . they asked people at the gate to volunteer for a later flight or a flight with another airline with an upgrade . No problems with volunteers on that flight
The gate is closed at least 30 mins before you board the plane so any overbooking would be know by then . Seems to me this was not overbooked but they decided at the last minute they wanted to send their staff to another airport?
 

Yes, if you read the threads about this you are correct.