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-Lurid Crime Tales-
United CEO Oscar Munoz sez airline they had "to re-accommodate customers."
2017-04-12
[Wash Times] There is something very "1984" in the words fluttering around over the strange case of a doctor being ripped from his seat aboard an airplane, pummeled into submission by three burly men and dragged -- quite literally -- bloody and screaming down the aisle and off the plane.

One word that has emerged is "re-accommodate." The passenger wasn’t dragged off the plane; he was "re-accommodated." Another is "overbooked." We’ve heard that word before, but really only from airlines, and we the sheeple just accept it as part of life. Yet another is "voluntary." And we have the Chicago police to thank for a brand new definition of "fell."

Let’s use them all in a couple of sentences. The airplane was "overbooked." The plane needed passengers to "volunteer" to get off. When one refused to leave "voluntarily," he was "re-accommodated." Then, when three husky men assaulted him, he "fell," smashed his face and poured blood as he was dragged down the aisle.

Or, as United said shortly after the incident: "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." Then United chief executive Oscar Munoz added that’s when they had "to re-accommodate these customers."
Posted by:Besoeker

#17  Alaska airlines treats us well. United Air Lines created a million enemies by dumping 4 rev passengers for 4 deadheading crew.

However the airline may have had a situation when another crew on another flight was timing out so they had to get someone else out there quick. So planning and scheduling is critical. Then delays and weather cause the schedule to tank. One way or another you have to get ahead of the scheduling limits. But always have to consider the customer. A delay on the other flight would be preferable than causing people to be thrown off the flight.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2017-04-12 21:10  

#16  Two more things I'll continue not doing ever:
1) flying,
b) going to/thru Chicago.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2017-04-12 16:30  

#15   Next time offer $2000 and you'll get volunteers

I don't think the FAA rules allow that.

smarter to charter the crew to Louisville
Union contract may not allow that. Furthermore, it would not count towards their mandatory rest time before their next flight.

it is a four hour drive!
I'd have taken an offer of the cash and a free car rental, but I don't think that's allowed either.


Posted by: Glenmore   2017-04-12 16:28  

#14  Hah, and since the luggage would have been unloaded onto the carousel 24 hours earlier, no waiting!
Posted by: swksvolFF   2017-04-12 16:11  

#13  Give United some credit as the good news is that the folks who got bumped still had their luggage delivered to Louisville on time.

Posted by: airandee   2017-04-12 15:04  

#12  Next time offer $2000 and you'll get volunteers. And the penalty you have to pay makes you pay better attention to the details.
Posted by: gorb   2017-04-12 14:30  

#11  United would have been smarter to charter the crew to Louisville. The main thing is customer service was disregarded in the decision process. And therein lies the systemic problem with United.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2017-04-12 11:35  

#10  Crusader is correct. I think the public was happy to accept this sort of thing in the past when folks were removed before they boarded. Dragging someone off the plane afterwards really struck a nerve with people. You just shouldn't be able to do that.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2017-04-12 11:33  

#9  Once a legit ticket has been shown and the person has been allowed to be seated, there's no way in hell they can drag that person off the plane without looking badly. It makes matters worse when the excuse for doing so turns out to be that they wanted to give the seat to an airline employee.
Posted by: Crusader   2017-04-12 10:44  

#8  Air travel is for folks in a hurry. 'Hurry' has pretty well been removed from my lexicon.
Posted by: Besoeker   2017-04-12 10:43  

#7  It gets under-reported that the seats were all assigned before boarding, and then last minute decision to bump four passengers for a flight crew that needed to get to Louisville. What is really stunning is that it is a four hour drive! Millions of dollars in settlement and billions in damage to the brand to avoid making crew drive. Morons should be fired for this.
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2017-04-12 10:25  

#6  From Wikipedia:

Early life
Muñoz is the oldest of nine children in a Mexican-American family living in California, and was the first in his family to graduate from college. Muñoz earned a BS in business from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Pepperdine University. While at USC, he met his wife Cathy. They have four children.

Career
Muñoz previously served as President of CSX Corporation during 2015 and its Chief operating officer from 2012 to 2015.[2][3] From 2001 to 2003, Muñoz served as the Chief financial officer and Vice president of Consumer services at AT&T.[4] Muñoz had also worked for Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc..[1]

Muñoz has twice been named among the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" by Hispanic Business magazine.[5]

Munoz, in March 2017, was named “Accommodator Communicator of the Year for 2017” by PRWeek.[6]
Posted by: Ebbavish Sinatra7322   2017-04-12 10:23  

#5  The Asian doctor who got dragged out has lawyered up with a high power attorney.
Posted by: JohnQC   2017-04-12 09:02  

#4  CEO Oscar Munoz is still searching for answers. Things like this simply do not happen in his native Sweden.
Posted by: Besoeker   2017-04-12 07:52  

#3  Just think, if Hillary had been elected he would have a Cabinet post.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2017-04-12 07:47  

#2  I'm glad the "re-accommodation' was finally successful. Flight 3411 was nearly..... aborted.
Posted by: Besoeker   2017-04-12 07:31  

#1  Maybe Munoz job should be reaccomodated.
Posted by: gorb   2017-04-12 06:57  

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