United Airlines’ and Their So-Called Passenger “Re-Accommodation”

Recently, United Airlines has had a few issues with its customer service, customer relations, and public image.

Barely a month ago, United made news by refusing to allow two females to fly because of the clothes they were wearing (leggings). Although United had a SLIGHTLY, BARELY-legitimate reason for preventing these two females from flying, due to the fact that they were flying on a company perk which had an attached dress code, they still smeared egg on their own collective corporate faces when they made a big deal about this incident and then mishandled it when it went viral.

Going back a bit further, three years ago, when United began its purchase/merger with Continental, United officers promised Congress and Federal investigators that everyone who purchased a ticket on a United or Continental flight would be GUARANTEED a seat.

Now fast forward to this week, a couple of days ago United forcibly and violently removed a paying passenger from the seat he paid for and had a ticket for, in direct, blatant contravention of their stated promise to Congress to ensure that every passenger who paid for a seat would have one.

The CEO of United has “apologized” for the incident. Here is a picture of his official “apology” from Twitter as of 11 April 2017:

Let me get this straight:

A CORPORATE ENTITY without feelings and which has clearly demonstrated a complete and total lack of conscience, ethics, or morals, is “upset” because they CHOSE as a matter of fucked-up, but routine, corporate policy to sell more tickets on their planes than they have actual seats for. A corporate entity CHOSE to prioritize the DESIRES of its crew members and employees over the NEEDS of the customers who pay the corporation for their services. A corporation CHOSE to ignore the NEEDS of a customer who PAID FOR THEIR SERVICES, and that corporation is “upset.” A corporation that has no feelings and clearly has no conscience is hilariously claiming to be “upset” about a situation THE CORPORATION CAUSED ITSELF. A corporate entity CHOSE to forcibly and violently remove a passenger who PAID for his seat and was sitting in his seat minding his own business. The CEO of this corporation egregiously and fallaciously CHOOSES to characterize their violent and bloody removal of a paid passenger as “re-accommodation.” And then states that United is going to conduct their own “detailed review” of what happened and to “resolve” the “situation.” This is victim blaming at its finest (aka absolute worst). United is a spousal abusing, “wife-beater” who is blaming the spouse for “causing” them to be “forced” to beat the ever loving shit out of their spouse…err passengers for the totally legitimate, totally legal, and totally NON-AGGRESSIVE behavior of the victim in this “situation.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict the future here:

United’s “investigation” is going to find that United was not at fault for any of the numerous, egregious, blatant, fuck-ups they made as a corporation and its representatives’ actions during this “situation” (as United laughably calls it). Further, staying true to present form, United is going to find that their actions were totally justified and that the passenger was actually at fault for United’s numerous, giant, glaring, fuck-ups in this “situation.” Despite clear evidence in the form of numerous videos that show the passenger/victim was NOT being belligerent, disruptive, or aggressive in ANY way. United is also “reaching out” to this paying passenger (former and probably never-again United customer incidentally) whom they beat, bloodied, evicted, and embarrassed. Personally I would be quite gun-shy about being “reached out” to by United if I was that passenger. Last time United reached out to him it was with the figurative billy-club of the police state Gestapo with which they immediately and viciously beat him over and about the head…multiple times.

I hope this passenger sues United for millions of dollars in damages and wins. I hope that this victim of United’s “caring and upset” corporate hands, wins the lawsuit and the jury awards him BILLIONs instead of millions in damages. I hope United goes completely bankrupt and fails due to their sheer, egregious, callous, Darwinian-gall, and FUCKING STUPIDITY and further, for their not-even-thinly-veiled-attempt at victim blaming. Fucking losers.

The choices United made in this “situation” REALLY scare me. As a Libertarian there is nothing I cherish more than the freedoms and rights recognized and guaranteed by the US Constitution. United’s choice of actions here are clear and unmistakable violations of those rights and freedoms. More on that in a bit, meanwhile, let’s look at some picture of how United goes about “reaching out to” and “re-accommodating” its paid passengers:

This is how United cares for and “re-accommodates its paying customers. If you aren’t mad yet, I have one question and one statement for you: “What the fuck is wrong with you, moron?” and “You should be angry as fuck.”

“Surely United Airlines MUST have had some sort of legitimate reason for treating a paid passenger this way? No corporation or group of people would ever do something like this without some kind of at least sort-of legitimate reason? Right?” All of these questions you might ask by way of disbelief that such bullshit could happen in America in 2017. You would be wrong.

Let’s explore those questions. First we must establish the causes for getting yourself removed from a flight run by United Airlines.

United has a NINETY PAGE/THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND word Contract of Carriage that covers the rules that we all scroll to the bottom of and click “I Agree” to EVERY time you buy a ticket from them. Yes, you read that right: they expect you to read their NINETY PAGE/THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND WORD, novel-of-list of 30 rules, EVERY TIME YOU BUY A TICKET.

Let’s delve into United’s Contract of Carriage to see if perhaps this guy allegedly or supposedly violated one of those, seeming-million-word agreements, that no one ever reads, because they are a million words long and written by fucking shyster lawyers who are only interested in lining their own pockets by protecting the corporation that paid them to fuck the corporations’ customers in the ass with a double handful of sand and without lube or a reach-around, that somehow justifies this egregiously bad behavior on the part of that corporation. Here is the section from United’s own rules that covers the numerous reasons ANY person can be prevented from boarding a flight or removed from a flight after boarding:

Rule 21: Refusal of Transport: Breach of Contract of Carriage – Failure by Passenger to comply with the Rules of the Contract of Carriage.

1. Government Request, Regulations or Security Directives – Whenever such action is necessary to comply with any government regulation, Customs and Border Protection, government or airport security directive of any sort, or any governmental request for emergency transportation in connection with the national defense.
2. Force Majeure and Other Unforeseeable Conditions – Whenever such action is necessary or advisable by reason of weather or other conditions beyond UA’s control including, but not limited to, acts of God, force majeure, strikes, civil commotions, embargoes, wars, hostilities, terrorist activities, or disturbances, whether actual, threatened, or reported.
3. Search of Passenger or Property – Whenever a Passenger refuses to submit to electronic surveillance or to permit search of his/her person or property.
4. Proof of Identity – Whenever a Passenger refuses on request to produce identification satisfactory to UA or who presents a Ticket to board and whose identification does not match the name on the Ticket. UA shall have the right, but shall not be obligated, to require identification of persons purchasing tickets and/or presenting a ticket(s) for the purpose of boarding the aircraft.
5. Failure to Pay – Whenever a Passenger has not paid the appropriate fare for a Ticket, Baggage, or applicable service charges for services required for travel, has not paid an outstanding debt or Court judgment, or has not produced satisfactory proof to UA that the Passenger is an authorized non-revenue Passenger or has engaged in a prohibited practice as specified in Rule 6.
6. Across International Boundaries – Whenever a Passenger is traveling across any international boundary if:
   1. The government required travel documents of such Passenger appear not to be in order according to UA’s reasonable belief; or
   2. Such Passenger’s embarkation from, transit through, or entry into any country from, through, or to which such Passenger desires transportation would be unlawful or denied for any reason.
7. Safety – Whenever refusal or removal of a Passenger may be necessary for the safety of such Passenger or other Passengers or members of the crew including, but not limited to:
   1. Passengers whose conduct is disorderly, offensive, abusive, or violent;
   2. Passengers who fail to comply with or interfere with the duties of the members of the flight crew, federal regulations, or security directives;
   3. Passengers who assault any employee of UA, including the gate agents and flight crew, or any UA Passenger;
   4. Passengers who, through and as a result of their conduct, cause a disturbance such that the captain or member of the cockpit crew must leave the cockpit in order to attend to the disturbance;
   5. Passengers who are barefoot or not properly clothed;
   6. Passengers who appear to be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs to a degree that the Passenger may endanger the Passenger or another Passenger or members of the crew (other than a qualified individual whose appearance or involuntary behavior may make them appear to be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs);
   7. Passengers wearing or possessing on or about their person concealed or unconcealed deadly or dangerous weapons; provided, however, that UA will carry law enforcement personnel who meet the qualifications and conditions established in 49 C.F.R. §1544.219;
   8. Passengers who are unwilling or unable to follow UA’s policy on smoking or use of other smokeless materials;
   9. Unless they comply with Rule 6 I), Passengers who are unable to sit in a single seat with the seat belt properly secured, and/or are unable to put the seat’s armrests down when seated and remain seated with the armrest down for the entirety of the flight, and/or passengers who significantly encroach upon the adjoining passenger’s seat;
   10. Passengers who are manacled or in the custody of law enforcement personnel;
   11. Passengers who have resisted or may reasonably be believed to be capable of resisting custodial supervision;
   12. Pregnant Passengers in their ninth month, unless such Passenger provides a doctor’s certificate dated no more than 72 hours prior to departure stating that the doctor has examined and found the Passenger to be physically fit for air travel to and from the destination requested on the date of the flight, and that the estimated date of delivery is after the date of the last flight;
   13. Passengers who are incapable of completing a flight safely, without requiring extraordinary medical assistance during the flight, as well as Passengers who appear to have symptoms of or have a communicable disease or condition that could pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others on the flight, or who refuse a screening for such disease or condition. (NOTE: UA requires a medical certificate for Passengers who wish to travel under such circumstances. Visit UA’s website, com, for more information regarding UA’s requirements for medical certificates);
   14. Passengers who fail to travel with the required safety assistant(s), advance notice and/or other safety requirements pursuant to Rules 14 and 15;
   15. Passengers who do not qualify as acceptable Non-Ambulatory Passengers (see Rule 14);
   16. Passengers who have or cause a malodorous condition (other than individuals qualifying as disabled);
   17. Passengers whose physical or mental condition is such that, in United’s sole opinion, they are rendered or likely to be rendered incapable of comprehending or complying with safety instructions without the assistance of an escort. The escort must accompany the escorted passenger at all times; and
   18. Unaccompanied passengers who are both blind and deaf, unless such passenger is able to communicate with representatives of UA by either physical, mechanical, electronic, or other means. Such passenger must inform UA of the method of communication to be used; and
   19. Passengers who are unwilling to follow UA’s policy that prohibits voice calls after the aircraft doors have closed, while taxiing in preparation for takeoff, or while airborne.

That was ONE rule of the THIRTY. Let’s ask and answer some questions based on the publicly available knowledge and publicly available videos and witness statements of this incident.

• Was this incident a matter of national security? Nope.
• Was this incident initiated by Force Majeure or some other unforeseen condition that is considered out of anyone’s control? Not even remotely
• Did this man refuse to be searched at the airport checkpoint? Nope. He successfully cleared screening and had boarded the plane.
• Did this man refuse to show identification upon request? Nope he successfully made it through TSA screening and was sitting in his assigned and paid for seat on the plane.
• Did this man fail to pay for his ticket? Nope his ticket was legitimate, and even had his seat number on it as usual.
• Was this man’s travel paperwork out of order? Nope.
• Was this man banned from traveling or otherwise on some sort of watch list? Nope.
• Was this man disorderly, abusive, violent? Nope. In fact the ONLY violence in the whole situation was perpetrated by United Airlines and the Gestapo Stormtroopers they called in to enforce their totally illegal, egregiously unethical, behavior.
• Did this man assault anyone? Nope. In fact ALL of the “assaulting” was done by United Airlines and the black-wearing Nazi SS fucktards (laughably calling themselves “police” that United called in. Police are supposed to enforce the LAW and protect the innocent. People who wear a badge and carry a gun and do the EXACT OPPOSITE of that just like these three “police” officers did are not police and are NOT deserving of respect. They are armed thugs no better than all the other criminals who violate the laws of the land. Violating a person’s civil and legal rights in support of a corporation’s profits, or other interests is illegal and unethical. These three officers should be fired summarily and banned from ever wearing a badge or carrying a gun. Enforcement of corporate policies is NOT the purview of the police. These police should have been arresting the crew for violating United’s corporate policy, violating Federal Law and guidelines about this situation, and for violating this man’s civil, legal, and Constitutional rights.
• Did this man create a disturbance? Nope. 100% of the disturbance was United’s fault and 100% of the blame falls on United Airlines for this disturbance. United overbooked the flight. United failed to provide reasonable compensation to attract volunteers for giving up their seats. No one else has ANY portion of the blame for this.
• Was this man overly intoxicated or did he appear to be intoxicated? Nope.
• Was this man in possession of a dangerous weapon? Nope. He successfully and peacefully cleared TSA screening.
• Was this man smoking? Nope
• Was this man a prisoner in custody of law enforcement? Nope, He clearly was not restrained at the beginning of any of the several publicly available videos. He clearly boarded the flight under his own power and by his own volition.
• Did this man require custodial supervision and was he resisting that required custodial supervision? Nope.
• Was this man 9 months pregnant? Highly doubtful.
• Was this man medically unable to complete this flight (before being brutally assaulted by police that is)? Prior to being illegally assaulted by the Gestapo, he was clearly and apparently totally fine and normal, medically.
• Did this man have a physical disability that required him to have a qualified medical escort? Nope.
• Was this man both blind and deaf? Nope. There is clear and unmistakable verbal interaction before the totally unwarranted assault, and the man was wearing glasses so clearly he can see.
• Was this man talking on the phone after the cabin door closed? Nope. No phone is apparent on this man at any point in any of the videos.
• Did this man make terroristic threats? Nope. He spoke quietly, calmly, and passively until the assault began and he started screaming.
• Did this man board the flight under false identification? Nope.
• The answer to EVERY SINGLE ONE of these several questions is a resounding NO!
• This passenger has cleared the TSA screening successfully, with valid ID, and was peacefully and quietly sitting in his seat minding his own business, when a United employee initiated and then continued a confrontation with him when he refused to engage. He sat there and quietly and calmly refused a TOTALLY UNREASONABLE, TOTALLY ILLEGAL, and TOTALLY UN-CONSTITUTIONAL request from a United Airlines employee. Which totally un-reasonable request, was ALSO not in accordance with Federal Law and United Airline’s own policy on resolving such situations.

Let’s pause right here and discuss what an airline is REQUIRED BY FEDERAL LAW to do in a situation where they have overbooked a flight. Here are some of the Federal laws on this:

• If you are bumped involuntarily and the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to get you to your final destination (including later connections) within one hour of your original scheduled arrival time, there is no compensation.
• If the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to arrive at your destination between one and two hours after your original arrival time (between one and four hours on international flights), the airline must pay you an amount equal to 200 percent of your one-way fare to your final destination that day, with a $675 maximum.
• If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (400 percent of your one-way fare, $1350 maximum).
• If your ticket does not show a fare (for example, a frequent-flyer award ticket or a ticket issued by a consolidator), your denied boarding compensation is based on the lowest cash, check or credit card payment charged for a ticket in the same class of service (e.g., coach, first class) on that flight.
• You always get to keep your original ticket and use it on another flight. If you choose to make your own arrangements, you can request an “involuntary refund” for the ticket for the flight you were bumped from. The denied boarding compensation is essentially a payment for your inconvenience.
• If you paid for optional services on your original flight (e.g., seat selection, checked baggage) and you did not receive those services on your substitute flight or were required to pay a second time, the airline that bumped you must refund those payments to you.

Eyewitness, first-hand reports from other passengers on the plane indicate, the airline’s representatives only offered $800 dollars as incentive to give up their seats. Only two people took that half-assed bullshit offer. AND THAT $800 offer was only after the first round offer of a completely bullshit $400 amount was totally unsuccessful in getting anyone to look up from their electronic devices. That $800 is less than 60% of what the federal guidelines suggest in this situation.

100% of the blame for this situation lies at the feet of United Airlines and its partner’s.

Edit/Update: 11 April 2017 Afternoon

My prediction about United Airlines response to the situation was 100% correct. Today (12 April 2017), United Airline’s CEO has issued more statements about the situation. In one of them he (Oscar Munoz) blames the entire situation on the passenger and says the passenger was being “disruptive and belligerent.” Nice job there Munoz you moron, victim blaming at its most egregious. YOUR company causes a problem and when the people affected by the problem YOUR company caused become unhappy an uncooperative, you then blame them for being upset and uncooperative with your company’s and employees’ ludicrous, unethical, immoral, and bullshit actions.

Update #2: 12 April 2017 Morning

Turns out the plane wasn’t actually overbooked at all, it was just 4 of United’s employees looking for a free ride (deadheading) that caused the entire supposedly “overbooked” situation. Four United employees who were LESS THAN 4 hours by car ride from their destination. Four employees that United COULD have, but CHOSE NOT to, put in a rental car and send off to the location that UNITED wanted them at…the NEXT DAY.

Update #3: 12 April 2017 Afternoon

It has now come to the public’s attention, that last month, another United passenger, who was also a fully paid customer, was threatened with this same level of violence if they did not give up their seat in another similar situation. On another note, United Airlines lost $1.4 BILLION in stock value in less than 24 hours after this incident became public knowledge. I hope it keeps sliding. Fucking losers.

Update #4: 12 April Evening

United has FINALLY issued a REAL apology…two and a half days later than they should have. Instead of that totally bullshit FAKE apology and victim blaming they have been doing for two days now. It is about motherfucking time you pieces of shit. And Dr. Dao (the victim of United’s most recent Gestapo tactics) has retained lawyers and released a public statement from his hospital room that clearly indicates his intent to bring a lawsuit against the offending parties including the police officers who so egregiously and illegally (since they followed NONE of the Federal requirements for handling such situations) violated this man’s Civil and Constitutional rights.