Ultra rich white male in first class threatened with arrest by United

[geek tragedy]

http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-united-low-priority-passenger-20170412-story.html

Fearns needed to return early so he paid about $1,000 for a full-fare, first-class ticket to Los Angeles. He boarded the aircraft at Lihue Airport on the island of Kauai, took his seat and enjoyed a complimentary glass of orange juice while awaiting takeoff.

Then, as Fearns tells it, a United employee rushed onto the aircraft and informed him that he had to get off the plane.

“I asked why,” he told me. “They said the flight was overfull.”

Fearns, like the doctor at the center of that viral video from Sunday night, held his ground. He was already on the plane, already seated. He shouldn’t have to disembark.

“That’s when they told me they needed the seat for somebody more important who came at the last minute,” Fearns said. “They said they have a priority list and this other person was higher on the list than me.”

But at least they showed an ultra rich frequent flyer some respect, right?

“I understand you might bump people because a flight is full,” Fearns said. “But they didn’t say anything at the gate. I was already in the seat. And now they were telling me I had no choice. They said they’d put me in cuffs if they had to.”

You couldn’t make this up if you tried.

It shouldn’t make any difference where a passenger is seated or how much he or she paid for their ticket. But you have to admire the sheer chutzpah of United putting the arm on a full-fare, first-class traveler. If there’s anybody whose business you want to safeguard and cultivate, it’s that person.

But at least they tried to make his flight as enjoyable as possible despite the downgrade, right?

So how could United possibly make things worse? Not to worry. This is the airline that knows how to add insult to injury.

A United employee, responding to Fearns’ complaint that he shouldn’t have to miss the flight, compromised by downgrading him to economy class and placing him in the middle seat between a married couple who were in the midst of a nasty fight and refused to be seated next to each other.

Never have I heard of an airline so aggressively contemptuous towards its customers. At least Spirit doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't.

Not racist or classist, just evil in an amazingly stupid way.

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[AgadorSparticus]

2. It must be the culture at this company....total assholes!!

Again, he paid for a first class ticket. He should be handsomely refunded and compensated. So he is not important enough.....Niiiiiiice....

[geek tragedy]

4. And frequent first class flyers provide most of their profit margin.

Just mind-boggling how their policy of being horrible supersedes their desire for profit.

[TNLib]

3. I never thought this was about race or class

This about a corporation that will screw over their customers because they can even if it means bodily harm.

They're nothing but a bunch of thugs.

[Beartracks]

5. Interesting. And good to know. Thanks. n/t

[Bradical79]

6. Whelp, that's one question answered.

they're willing to treat anyone like shit, even when it's obviously bad for business.

[Stonepounder]

7. Y'all just don't understand.

Upper management at UA is hoping for a call from the White House offering them a job on selling Trumps tax plan to the American people.

[sarah FAILIN]

8. I thought this was a joke from the headline..

but no.

[uponit7771]

9. +1

[Cha]

10. Wow.. that's my airport in Lihue. First Come First

Serve United Assholes.

This reads like a really bad nightmare.. how could they possibly tell someone that AFTER he had been seated.. Especially when he had paid $1000 for a gd ticket, First Class?!!

Does not compute..

"They're so locked into their policies there's no room for empathy".. or BRAINS!

Fearn says he'll never fly United Again.. he has the resources to sue but I hope he has documented proof.

Mahlao~geek

[LaydeeBug]

11. WTF is up with "priority lists" of PEOPLE?

[geek tragedy]

12. Airlines will prioritize their highest paying, most profitable customers.

People who buy the most expensive seats with regularity are the ones who keep airlines afloat, so if they have a choice between pissing off someone who buys a coach ticket for $350 once every three years and someone who pays 2-3 times as much once a week ... it's pretty much straight up capitalism, and just about everyone understands that paying first class buys you special treatment.

What stands out about United is that they're willing to treat even their best customers like crap and threaten force, and they'll use force against customers even if it's not to get another flyer on the plane but rather to avoid paying higher compensation to seated customers.

And that apparently it's a thing there to boot people off of planes for their own fuck ups.

[FDRsGhost]

13. Since when is United a judge of who's more important?

What a shit show of stupid. United needs a makeover and a reset. They aren't God and the guy paid for his damn ticket. If you're on the plane already, tough shit! You miss your flight.

This sort of bullshite has to stop. The more press this sort of thing gets, the better.