Vicious Rants of an Angry Yellow Man

By now I think everybody has heard of the Asian American doctor who was dragged off an United Airline plane because the plane was overbooked and there were not enough people who voluntarily get off the plane.  There are a lot of outrage over the incident.  There are some people who believe that the passenger was picked because he was Asian.  There are also some people who believe the police and the airline did nothing wrong.  So this is my take.

First of all, I don't know why United let everybody board the plane knowing darn well there were not enough seats!  If there were 105 boarding passes obtained and there are 100 seats, I would randomly select 5 people and don't let them board.  If it turns out some people with boarding passes didn't make it to the gate, then you can start letting those 5 people on, one by one.  If there turn out there is not enough seats, then the negotiation can take place at the gate, not on the plane.  It is a lot easier to not let people on than to drag someone off. 

I am a doctor so if I was being kicked off, I would use that as a leverage just as this passenger did.  This obviously failed but I would then try to get as much compensation as possible in writing.  But failing that I would not put up a fight like that guy did.  It is not worth the bodily harm.

But what if I am a 6 foot 5, 300 lbs offensive lineman for Michigan and not a 69 year old man?  Would the police still try to drag me out of my seat and down the aisle?  What is the next procedure on the airline manual?  Would the police use a taser on me?  A gun?  How about if I am a 20 year woman, would the officers grab me?  In this age of cell phones the police still acted so aggressively so can you imagine in the old days when there were no cameras around?

Finally on third writing the CEO of United makes an apology.  It is too late.  Unlike his employees who had to make a decision at the gate and plane, the CEO had time to think over things before going public with remarks.  This comes right after the young women legging incident.  I would think he would have gotten crisis management advice before blabbering his mouth.

In the long term, I don't think United will lose a lot domestically.  People will forget and the top four airlines dominate the U.S. market so the choices are limited for customers.  But United is one of the airlines trying to break into the high potential China market.  This will be a big hit for United there.  The Chinese airlines will NEVER let Chinese consumers forget this.