Most of us have seen the video and heard the news story. A flight through United Airlines was overbooked, and to compensate they picked four passengers at random to get off when no volunteers came forward to wait for the next flight to Kentucky, almost 24 hours later. Understandable, to say the least, and not exactly news worthy. What happened next is the experience that made headlines.
One of the people picked was Dr. David Dao. Dr. Dao, a 69 year old doctor from Kentucky, was adamant about not getting off as he had patients to see back home. In response, United called security officers (three of them, actually) to take the man off of United Express Flight 3411. Video of Dr. Dao’s ejection from the flight has now gone viral and caused a lot of backlash for United. The video depicts the man being thrown onto an armrest—bloodying his nose and his mouth. They drag him off the plane where he is no longer struggling, as one passenger said, because they “knocked [him] unconscious.”
What is even more astounding is the less prominent video of a later part the incident; Dr. Dao managed to get BACK on the plane, running to the back of the flight repeating, “I have to go home” and clutching to one of the frames of a doorway on the plane. John Klaassen, a passenger who was sitting directly in front of the man says, “He was obviously in shock […] we were all in shock.” Someone can be seen offering him a napkin for his injuries, even though blood was smeared down his face. Eventually, Dao was taken away in a stretcher.
Tyler Bridges, the man who shot the video, said that the aftermath was “disgusting.” The remaining passengers were taken off the plane so the crew could “tidy up”—what Bridges said meant that they needed to clean up the blood. After two additional hours, the four crew members they made room for all boarded the plane, smiling.
While this incident is making headlines for the obviously brutal treatment of the man, this is not the first incident United has had involving angry passengers. Many airlines have been in hot water for overbooking their flights because some people “simply do not show up.” If they ask a passenger off, airlines have to offer some form of compensation. Vouchers given must be at least double that of the tickets, and more if the waiting time is longer than a few hours.
Last year alone, United had to have 62,895 people give up their seats willingly after being offered tickets. On the other hand, almost 4,000 people were ordered off of flights when no volunteers approached. However, United only ranks in the middle when it comes to their bumped passenger rates because of its smaller size.
This is not the first time United has caused controversy, but this is definitely the most outrageous and most covered controversy of theirs in years. Another recent story involves the headlines they made at the end of March 2017 when two teenagers were not allowed boarding because of their leggings, and made another young girl on the flight change so she could board.
Technically, United Airlines can kick people off flights, bump their flights, or refuse their boarding. Even if they can, does that really mean they should?
