Name: United Airlines
Age: 91
Occupation: air carrier
Last Seen: Chicago
Bee-otched For: forcing a passenger into a rhapsody in red
Age: 91
Occupation: air carrier
Last Seen: Chicago
Bee-otched For: forcing a passenger into a rhapsody in red
For many years, United Airlines had the slogan "Fly the Friendly Skies".
But for one man, he was forced to stay on the not-so-friendly ground while he was literally being dragged out of the plane, kicking and screaming.
Sunday night, a United Express flight from Chicago O'Hare to Louisville, KY became the center of controversy when the airline claimed that all 70 seats were filled and was overbooked. So, they offered passengers $800 each to leave the plane. There were no takers, so they used a computer program to randomly choose passengers to throw off the plane voluntarily. One of the names chosen was Dr. David Dao, a Vietnam native who owned a practice in Elizabethtown, KY.
Dao refused to leave the plane and security was brought in to remove the 69-year-old off the plane. He told them that he had to be back in town the next day, but they didn't care. They literally dragged the elderly man off the plane, bashing his face on an armrest beforehand. Meanwhile some fellow passengers shot the melee and uploaded it to social media where it became huge news the next day.
As a result of the fight between Dao and security, he's now in a hospital and in pain. Turns out that the flight wasn't overbooked; they needed four people to leave to accommodate four crew members. Three people didn't mind, but Dao had to go home to mind his practice.
However, it's been discovered that Dao had his doctor's license revoked several years ago after it was discovered that he was selling drugs for sex with men. He's also won over $250,000 playing poker.
Meanwhile, UAL has been doing damage control. CEO Oscar Munoz wrote in a statement that his company is looking into the situation and claimed to be disgusted by what happened. In the meantime, United's stock fell 1%, 81 cents from yesterday. Many are wondering if how Dr. Dao was treated will further hurt United's repuation.
Folks, this is why I fly Southwest. Before they started flying from Ford Airport here in Grand Rapids, I flew virtually all the other majors: United, Northwest (RIP), Delta and others. The worst airline I flew on was Midwest. Several years ago, I ordered my ticket to fly on that carrier in March for a flight a week before Christmas. However, the flight was canceled and I was delayed by a day. Coming home from Phoenix, I was told on my ticket to see the counter attendant in Milwaukee. I was in danger of being bumped off all because they didn't have enough flights and there was a winter storm that delayed everything. Thankfully, I was able to go home. One reason for the lack of flights was because they didn't have enough staff over the holidays. It appears that they allowed them to take the busiest time of the year off. NO WONDER WHY THEY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS! They're now part of Frontier Airlines, which thankfully no longer flies out of Ford.
Now, I think it's sad that it has come to this: kicking people off of the plane all because they put employees in front of customers. With the exception of Southwest, all airlines suck. It's sad that Southwest only flies 737s (not tiny uncomfortable mudskippers like United Express or American Eagle), doesn't charge for carry on bags, doesn't force people to sit between morbidly obese people or screaming kids and they still serve snacks on flights, but yet, the other airlines haven't learned from them.
If United doesn't do something to regain the public's trust, may they be the next Pan Am or Braniff.
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