According to a multitude of sources, United Airlines overbooked a flight going from Chicago to Lousiville. Since they had no room on the plane they asked four passengers to voluntarily give up their seat. At first, they offered $400 dollars and a free night at a hotel. When nobody volunteered they offered a second offer. The second offer was $800 dollars and a free night at a hotel.
Again, no passengers accepted. That is when they decided to pick four passengers at random. Out of the four chosen one refused to get off the plane. He said he was a Doctor and had patients he had to attend to in the morning. That is when United Airlines called Law Enforcement.
Video of altercation between Law Enforcement and the passenger:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfB28wQs8uQ]
A report from the Journal-Courrier gives us more of an insight on how the passenger was after the altercation.
“The man was able to get back on the plane after initially being taken off – his face was bloody and he seemed disoriented, Bridges said, and he ran to the back of the plane. Passengers asked to get off the plane as a medical crew came on to deal with the passenger, she said, and passengers were then told to go back to the gate so that officials could “tidy up†the plane before taking off.â€
United Airlines response attempted to distance themselves from the video above:
“Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked. After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate. We apologize for the overbook situation. Further details on the removed customer should be directed to authorities.â€
Now, the video is surely a tough one to watch. Watching the man get pulled out of his chair and dragged out of the plane is shocking. With that being said the blame for this can’t be thrown on the Law Enforcement involved. The bottom line is that the plane was overbooked and this man was told he had to get off because of it. When he refused, Law Enforcement was called and they dealt with the passenger as they best saw fit.
The blame for this should lie with United Airlines and not with Law Enforcement or the passenger.
What are your thoughts on this?
