The big difference between United Airlines and McDonalds is you are trying to get to your destination and you have already paid for the ticket. Airline personnel can remove you from the plane at the gate for a number of reasons. Whether it is justified or not is irrelevant - you are off the plane and you may very well experience a delay in getting to your final destination. Your other questions will undoubtedly be answered in the week/months ahead but honestly I don't really care.
The person in question made a big mistake by not doing what he was told. Unless, of course, his goal was to get a big settlement from United, which he may very well get. United, of course, made some serious mistakes also. You cannot win those battles and negotiate while sitting on the plane. Rational people get off the plane and resolve the issue with other airline representatives. Knowing the compensation rules and the airline's responsibilities is always a good idea. By the way, I have missed more connections than I care to think about for various reasons. I have also not even bothered to take the first leg of several trips when it became apparent that I would miss the connection. Weather, mechanical problems, air traffic control issues, lack of a crew, etc. can cause delays that cause you to miss connections. It is what it is.
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Originally Posted by golfing eagles
That is great common sense advice. But to play devil's advocate, what makes airline personnel any different than the manager of McDonald's or the gate attendant at Belvedere Blvd??? Why are they "above" a discussion/argument??? What LEGAL, not civil authority do they have??? The captain has 100% total authority on that plane, ONCE IT LEAVES THE TERMINAL. Is that true while it is attached to the terminal via the jetway??? Why are the Chicago police involved in a civil matter? A lot of questions remain.
UAL has some responsibility here as well---bumping seated passengers for a flight crew for the next day??? This was the ONLY crew they could get there??? There was no other way to get them there??? Other flights, other airlines???? Sounds like bad management decisions. I once sat on a plane for over an hour, 200 feet from the terminal at O'Hare , watching my connecting flight take off. This was because "our" gate was occupied, even though there were 11 empty gates that remained empty for the whole time we sat there. Didn't any one think to call the airport manager to change the gate??? I suspect that the average airline employee couldn't care less---travelers, especially at an airport connecting to another flight, are a population of hostages.
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