Are there any friendly skies out there? — Man dragged down the aisle

Do you remember the good ol’ days of flying when there was a semblance of regulation over the airline industry?

Customer service back then was a reality. Seating space fit for humans actually existed on planes. There were no over booked passengers placed on a wait list. You could always rely on a seat if you had purchased a ticket. You did not have to “sell” your seat if you did not want to. You did not have to sprint from connection to connection – they would wait for you a reasonable amount of time.

And, you could expect NOT to be physically assaulted by security; physically hauled from your window seat; and physically dragged by the shoulders, on your back down the aisle – as long as you had purchased a ticket.

https://youtu.be/IJtZ5GbS2Uc

United Airlines told a plane packed with tired passengers that unless four people volunteered to get off the plane, they would be forced to sit on the tarmac. They tried buying back seats for $1,000 and when that failed, they decided to randomly eject passengers. Three passengers complied when they were “randomly” chosen and ordered from the plane.

Why were passengers “voluntarily” ejected from the plane? To make room for another flight crew that United needed to make a flight elsewhere. Couldn’t United Airlines have chartered a plane to fly the crew?

Wasn’t there another way? Would it have worked out without injury or violence if they had offered $1500, $2000, $2500? I mean this all seems like it is United Airlines problem. Could United have found another (possibly more expensive) way to get the waiting flight crew to their next stop?

Watch the video. I did not see the man physically assault anyone. What I see is a SWAT “wanna be” security officer grab the man, drag him across other seats and then drag him down the aisle by his shoulders, while the man was bleeding from his face.

The man is obviously in shock and traumatized by the ordeal and is also obviously injured. No one even is paying attention to his injuries as you see him, in shock, return to the plane.

Do airlines have exclusive control over the fiefdom of an airplane when a passenger has done nothing at all wrong?

The sad answer is yes. When you buy your airline ticket, they have you . You have rights, too, but they have substantial control over whether you get on the plane and whether you get a seat. Apparently, they also have vast control over physical ejection from the plane.

If you find yourself on a United flight, you are tried and you just want to get home, and they “ask” you to vacate your seat, take the best deal you can make and avoid the enforcers. Ultimately ask to speak with someone in charge and register your complaint with that person, off the plane, out of harm’s way.

Injury is not worth the price of a ticket.