A video went viral yesterday of a doctor being forcibly dragged off his flight in an incident of overbooking. The video is naturally causing outrage against the airline, staff, crew and the law enforcement officer(s) involved. It has also created a media crap storm for United. Someone may lose their job over this fiasco, but not for the reasons you may think. I’ll get to that later.
I’m not going to delve into where the blame may or may not lie. Instead, I will provide a basic layman’s knowledge of what a contract of carriage is, some FAA laws applicable to this situation and how they apply to us as passengers.
Here’s what we know so far:
Timeline
A passenger boarded an overbooked United Airlines flight (UA3411) from Chicago to Louisville. The flight was scheduled to depart at 5:40 Central Time. At some point, UA staff determined they needed four seats to get United flight crew members destined for work to Louisville. At this time, it is unknown if this was the final destination for the crew members.
Vouchers for $400 were offered along with a hotel stay and rebooking on a flight the following day. Reports say that particular flight was not until 3 pm. There were no takers. United then offered $800 and still no one took the offer.
United then advised that four people would be chosen at random to deplane. This is known as involuntary denied boarding. After they were chosen, three of those chosen passengers deplaned. The fourth passenger refused to deplane. He said he was a doctor and needed to be on the flight to make his surgery or scheduled appointments with patients. After refusing to follow flight crew instructions to deplane, Chicago Aviation Police were called. It is unclear if there was an air marshal on board or if any other agencies were involved or contacted.
The fourth passenger, again, refused to deplane when directed to do so by law enforcement officers. The law enforcement officer then forcibly attempted to remove the passenger by dragging him off the plane. There is video showing the passenger with blood on his face. The passenger seems to be bleeding as a result of his altercation with the law enforcement officer. Eventually, the passenger was allowed to return to the aircraft for passage
United CEO released the following statement:
“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.” – Oscar Munoz, CEO, United Airlines
The Chicago Department of Aviation says that one of the three officers was placed on administrative leave pending a review.
Contracts of Carriage
The factual timeline is what has been reported so far. But let’s get into this “contract of carriage” thing. What is a contract of carriage? What other rules are passengers subject to? These are questions many are asking today with the viral video surfacing.
There is no way to explain the complexities involved in running an airline and why they are so important to what happened today in a simply blog post. Nor can all the, how-the-hell-can-this-have-happened reasons be answered here. I will try to cover that in another post. What I can do is, in layman’s terms, give an explanation of what a contract of carriage is along with some other pertinent rules and laws which effect every passenger.
Contract of Carriage covers all the rules you agree to and the laws by which both the airline and consumer are bound. Most don’t read this. I never even knew it existed until I began working for an airline two decades ago. Some rules used to be printed on the sleeve in which your ticket and boarding pass was held. With electronic tickets, you receive a link of the web address where this information is located. Often, if you request the contract of carriage in writing, airlines will mail you a physical copy.
A Contract of Carriage (CoC) is just that: a contract to which every single passenger who books a reservation, purchases tickets and flies on that airline agrees to. Period. If you do any of the aforementioned, your agreement is legally assumed and binding. Carriage is a term used to say that you’re flying on that airline. In essence, they are carrying you on their plane via a contract you agree to when using their business. Contract of carriage requirements can also vary depending on the country.
Here are the topics often covered under a CoC. Wording for each CoC can vary and is subject to the carrier that publishes it. This list is not exhaustive. They are listed in alphabetical order. Some airlines may have a different topic heading, but this is the gist of what most publish.
Baggage
Cancellations and refunds
Change fees
Codeshare flights
Customer service complaints
Dangerous goods
Definitions
Delays and reroutes
Denied Boarding (Voluntary & Involuntary)
Disabilities
Fare types
Firearms
International travel
Overbooking
Passenger Bill of Right
Personal data
Pets
Refusal to transport
Reservations
Right to change CoC without prior notice
Schedule changes
Smoking
Surcharges
Ticket taxes and fees
Tickets and ticket validity
Travel documents
Unaccompanied minors, infants, car seats
Waitlist
A CoC tells you what the airline is providing, what they will and won’t do, what you can and can’t do and what your rights are. For example, a change fee topic will state that some tickets may have a fee if you have a ticket that allows changes and may advise of possible restrictions. A smoking topic may warn that all flights are smoke-free and that smoking is banned by the FAA.
In the case of the video showing the man being dragged off the plan, there are several topics which apply. Cancellations, Refunds, Denied Boarding, Overbooking, Passenger Bill of Rights and Refusal to Transport.
So, how do you keep your airline seat? You can’t. That is part of what is in the contract of carriage. To begin, the complexity that goes into getting a plane from Point A to Point B is so vast, it would take years to understand. Fortunately, I have those years under my belt and even then, there are still intricacies and nuances of how an airline works that I don’t know.
Many are wondering how the passenger could have been at fault at any time. Here is what the FAA regulations say.
- Interfering with the duties of a crew member violates federal law. Federal Aviation Regulations 91.11, 121.580 and 135.120 state that: “no person may assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crew member in the performance of the crew member’s duties aboard an aircraft being operated.”
The repercussions for passengers who engage in unruly behavior can be substantial. They can be fined by FAA or prosecuted on criminal charges. As part of the FAA’s Reauthorization Bill (April 16, 2000) the FAA can propose up to $25,000 per violation for unruly passenger cases. Previously, the maximum civil penalty per violation was $1,100. One incident can result in multiple violations.
When a member of the flight crew tells you to do anything, you are obligated to do it. (Side note: A flight attendant usually advises you what to do; if you don’t comply, they usually escalate to the captain who, ultimately, is the one authorizing your removal at their discretion.)
You could be wearing yellow and if the crew sees that as suspicious they can have you removed. You can complain later but if you refuse to follow the direction of the crew, YOU are in violation of FAA regulations. You can then be fined or even jailed. Period. Once law enforcement is involved, it’s the same thing. You must follow their directions. If you do not, yeah…see the regulations again.
Airlines can deny you boarding, whether you agree or not, as long as they ask for volunteers first.
When you refuse to deplane, you are now interfering with the duties of the crew in their performance and can even be considered unruly, even if you are non-violently protesting. Why? Simply because you are not really allowed to protest. We live in a post-9/11 world and any time a passenger refuses to follow crew requests, you can be considered a threat.
Back to those topics. An airline’s number one priority is to get you safely to your destination. Airlines offer safe passage from point A to B. Your ticket, purchased in good faith, doesn’t guarantee the flight you booked nor advance seat assignment or the seat assignment of your choice.
For almost any reason, an airline can refuse transport. You can protest, complain, or even sue, but airlines still have the right to refuse you passage. This is not to say you have no rights. Airlines are obligated to place you on the next available flight. They are not obligated to place you on another airline. When denied boarding involuntarily, you may be due a refund for any portion of your ticket you did not travel. This is also true in the event of cancellations. A contract of carriage may also contain the Passenger Bill of Rights as it pertains to these topics.
Your rights if you are denied boarding.
Whenever your flight is delayed or you are voluntarily or involuntarily denied boarding, you are due compensation. How much and whether it is in the form of a voucher, cash, or even a gift card depends on your specific situation and can vary in some ways from one airline to another and whether your flight is domestic or international.
Recently, there was an article on how a family was paid $11,000 because of cancellations, delays, overbooking and denied boarding. This is not the norm. Airlines are not required to give more than $1,350 when a passenger is involuntarily denied boarding or bumped and again, that depends on the situation such as you are not re-accommodated. This is calculated by multiplying your one-way fare by 400%, again capped at $1,350. These rules are often in your CoC and enforced by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
The average person denied boarding will not receive either of these amounts.
Questions have been asked by everyone watching the clips from the passengers. Many ask how are they supposed to know their rights? They don’t know legalese or even where to go. The airline itself, the FAA and DOT are valuable resources. You can call the airline and ask them to explain what your rights are in a specific situation. They often will not give compensation amounts because that is subject to change.
But why did United wait to deplane the passenger?
Others are asking why they United waited to deplane the passenger. Here is a quick and dirty process most airlines follow.
When airlines realize they’ve overbooked, they should ask for volunteers before allowing passengers to board. If they get none, a number of passengers are considered. Multiple factors are taken into consideration to determine who will be placed on the denied boarding list. Let me preface, if you are in first class, an unaccompanied minor, or a disabled passenger, you’re not getting denied boarding.
Factors such as ticket price, ticket type, elite status, if you’ve been denied for the same flight, when you checked in and whether you already have a seat assignment, all play a part in where you fall on the list to be re-accommodated. Or, the airline could have a system which randomly chooses passengers based on a different set of parameters.
Once on board, it is so rare for a passenger to be denied seating. United needed to get their crew to other flights. Had those crew members missed their flights, there could have been a ripple effect for other flights, other passengers, other doctors. Gate agents are often given direction by supervisors and the Operations Center (or whatever name they use). It’s highly possible, the gate agents were given orders by the Operations Center, last minute, that four crew members needed to be shuttled on that flight. With the flight already boarded, the gate agents were possibly then tasked with identifying those to be re-accommodated and begin working with the flight crew to get needed passengers off the plane.
Conclusion
Ultimately, could United have handled this better? Without a doubt, yes. Did they need to deplane those passengers? Possibly. Did they have a right to? Yes. Did they exhaust all options before calling the police? I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think so. Should the flight crew have called law enforcement? I can’t answer that with certainty either. What I can say for sure is the passenger should not have refused to deplane when requested to do so by the crew and law enforcement.
Now, a man has been harmed and United is facing the proverbial crap storm. There are no winners; everyone lost.
Rhyse Woodward is World Traveler, Travel Industry Expert, IT professional, Photographer and Future Time Lord. She is usually chasing summer around the world but when she isn’t, she’s enjoying good food and better friends. She is also a contributor for Barristourista Travel and Foodie magazines.
