Okay so with all the dust settling, monies and time spent or lost how does United management not see chartering a plane or buying tickets on another airline as a much cheaper and easier option for transporting their staff before initiating this whole fiasco? How many people missed connections because of United's decision to win the pissing contest? What was the real cost in lost time and monies? I missed a connection in DC a couple of years ago over this very same incident happening (without someone being dragged off but it still took over an one hour) and I had to overnight in DC. Once in DC at 5 pm and my original connection gone they wanted me to sit in the airport overnight for 12 hours. I remained polite and courteous but began to get a little upset and was holding up the line of numerous other people who missed connections. Because I would not go away quietly the quick thinking women attendant handling all these re-connections grabbed a passing flight crew and talked to them quietly. She came back handed me a packet containing a hotel and meal voucher, very politely asking me if I would agree to transport to and from a suite and a steak dinner in a high end hotel? Absolutely I said. So the flight crew escorted me to their transport and all was settled, no muss no fuss. Caught my flight at 6 the next morning and all was right with the world. What did that cost the airline? She could have stuck to policy and said "too bad next"and their would have been a scene but she did all she could, I saw that and that was the tipping point to calming the whole incident down. Mikey
I think they should poll the passengers with offers of compensation that rise until some accept it. I'm certain that there will always be those who take the value of the compensation over the value of their time.
This was years ago and I don't remember the airline, but they overbooked a flight from Boston to Tampa big time. They were having trouble getting any passengers to give up their seats. They finally offered two first-class round trip tickets to anywhere the airline flew. I was heading south to visit my mother who was dying after a severe stroke, so I couldn't take the offer, but according to the route map in the seat back, the airline flew to Australia. Under any other circumstance I would have accepted the tickets in a heartbeat.
