The last time my wife and I took vouchers will be the last time I take a voucher. $600 each, basically not good on advertised fares, numerous blackout dates, entire destinations off limits. None of that disclosed until you actually try to use it. They were essentially worthless to us.
And did you see South West's ad? "We only beat our competitors, not our customers."
That's funny......
Funny, but fake.
I try to fly Southwest whenever I can. I feel like I am treated better there than Delta which is the dominant carrier in Detroit. In general I'd rather connect than fly Delta. And I feel bad saying that because 2 of my daughter's classmates have mom's that work for Delta.
One enjoyable thing about Southwest--the crews tend to have a sense of humor. I've been on several flights where the safety announcement was met with applause. And you know what--it made people actually listen!
Last edited by Matt Meiser; 04-28-2017 at 10:42 PM.
A shocking number of respondents here seem to be all about blind obedience to "authority'. (I can hear Eric Cartmann's voice here) Those Chicago rent a cops should have been charged with assault since they were clearly out of their jurisdiction and operating as agents of the airline and not their own hierarchy. And to those who have suggested that the doctor needed to somehow 'prove' his credentials...that is outrageous. In what world do the capitalists get to sell you an item and then, as you take possession of the item you bought (in this case a seat on a plane),they decide they are entitled to physically drag you away from the item they sold you? Unless of course, you are somebody special, like a doctor? The sheeple mentality that thinks I'm going along with that treatment with no objections.... I just can't even fathom that. Let's see all of us try that with our customers. The airlines are no more special than any other industry. They are not entitled to commit the fraud of selling a service and then refusing to provide it followed by a beating when I object. At least not yet.
Guess we'll have to agree to disagree on all the groovy rebellious stuff. I found the overall tone of your post political and offensive, particularly the manner in which you used the term "capitalists" and your term "sheeple". I can do without a rehash of the 1960's protest movement, thank you.
United goofed. The police goofed. Dr. Dao goofed. This shouldn't have happened.
Fred Skelly
Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 05-02-2017 at 5:32 PM.
While I generally agree with you, Fred, I'm thankful to Dr Dao. I'm sure he didn't mean to become the poster boy for the way airline companies treat their passengers but it's clear that the airline companies are going to make changes because of what happened to him.
And that's good for all of us who travel.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
I'm pretty conservative but I don't think refusing to give up the seat on a plane that you were promised and payed for to be rebellious. Its roughly equivalent to buying your groceries and being stopped at the door, having them seized and being offered an equivalent amount of rice cakes and prunes as "compensation."
There is a distinction in my mind in that United had a professional responsibility, the police/security had a professional responsibility, Dr. Dao was just a customer (unarmed), he had the lowest burden.
Even if he was wrong, it didn't warrant being physically beaten up and dragged away. There are more civil ways to exact consequences. They could have separated his refusal to give up his seat from the need to locate a seat by finding it elsewhere (or not) and dealing with him later. He could have been arrested upon arrival, read his rights and charged or fined. I'm not certain he committed a crime, but if he did, what I'm saying is the punishment should fit the crime.
How would you feel if you jaywalked across a street and two cops approached you and beat you into submission for it? Yes you were wrong, you goofed, but should you be brutalized for it? Yes, we can agree to disagree.
I know better than to pursue this since it has dragged on and on, but we must have seen different videos?
The TV news I saw played the video in agonizingly slow-motion, frame, by frame, by frame. The good Dr. passenger wasn't beaten (in the video I saw). The police threw no punches, swung no batons, slammed no body parts into the floor, and did not even kneel on his good Dr. head (in the video I saw).
In the frame-by-frame video replay and analysis I saw, the police pulled the good Dr. passenger out of his seat and then lost their grip on him about half way to standing. The good Dr. passenger, having gone limp, thus fell face-first into the armrest of the seat across the aisle.
Blame United. Blame the Dr. ....Not so sure about the police. I would suggest the police used the force necessary to remove the good Dr. passenger - as they were asked to do by the aircraft owner's agents.
Play a game if you will: You offer a guy walking down the street a $5 ride to the big game, because you have a spare seat (your teenager is mad at you and won't go). He gives you $5 for gas. But then your teenager has that magical realization that you'll actually go without them, and comes running out of the house to get in the car seat now occupied by your newfound stranger/passenger. You try to give him his $5 back, even offer him $10, but he refuses to surrender the seat. As the vehicle owner, what will you do? Call him a cab? Call the police? What force will you deem appropriate to remove him? ...quickly, or you'll miss the game.
One other thing to perhaps keep in mind - much of the authority and power granted to the flight crew (and Captain) are based on centuries of maritime history. And it is intended to ensure the safety of ALL, even those not on board. (Call me a supporter of the thin-blue line.)
Last edited by Malcolm McLeod; 05-03-2017 at 12:06 PM.
The doctor won ,the air line lost. CEO (coach) of airline needs to be replaced with someone who has executive skills beyond "make dis problem go away"
It pains me to see that, even in this apparently clear cut case of right and wrong, that people cannot agree. This in itself shows an eminent demise for our entire system of justice. Get one or two folks who support the other side, and even after due consideration of the facts, cannot agree on a simple matter of right and wrong - its pure and simple chaos. Even the airline has admitted wrong doing on their part (no doubt due to the financial and social repercussions). At least this played out in the court of public opinion and not in some real court where the airline would easily have won or forced a hung jury and no one would have ever heard of it.