Hard to believe this happened here on Kauai, but it did.
22 thoughts on “United Airlines PR Nightmare Now Extends to Hawaii Flights”
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I think this just reflects the airline industry. Through financial pressures we have seen competition lessen through collapses and acquisitions and where once airlines competed on customer service it is now all about revenue. So overbooking goes up and crews and aircraft are scheduled ever tighter. Then Efficiencies in maintenance. All of which makes the likelihood of bumping increase. If you are on a frequent route then you get ancouple of hours delay but on a daily or twice daily flight with narrowbodies or RJ’s it is a disaster waiting to happen. Unfortunately the airlines have embraced technology to lower check in costs without updating effective management controls. So the airline staff who do not write the rules have to do the dirty work. I am afraid that consumer legislation is necessary. Fining airlines for bumping or downgrading will just result in canceled flights. I believe that in the case such as these a passenger should have the right to be flown on the next available service (whether direct or through another city) on any carrier in the booked
Class or better and the airline should fund any charges. The current arrangements keeping you on their metal provide no incentives for them. Similar to on time performance, pax voluntary
Or involuntary bumped or downgraded stats should be published.
I used to fly United….a lot, as I live in Hawaii and worked in San Francisco. As their service continued to spiral downward, I flew more and more Hawaiian flights…even though at the time it meant layover in HNL. Now I ONLY fly Hawaiian, and it is great. I would NEVER fly United again…like, EVER. What creeps.
We fly United 2-3 times a year to Hawaii from the east coast, never had a bad experience. One mechanical issue forced a landing in California and rebooking the next day. United reps were awesome gave us hotel and food vouchers the rep used her personal phone to call someone she knew at Hawaiian air and got us on early morning flight to destination.
I was disappointed with their recent issue, but I do think the airport police that did the pulling off of the passenger are more at fault. Where did they get their training?
United needs to make amends for this action no doubt. However, ask enough people and you will find discontent .
All passengers should read the Passenger Bill of Rights..you can look it up online so that you know what rights you have in different circumstances.
I have never flown with United. After hearing everyone’s horror stories this week, I surely never will. Once I’m in my seat I assume it’s mine.
Unbelievable! The art of diplomacy and “the costumer is always right” has been lost on UAL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVQcXR2HVhw
I’m unsubscribing from your newsletter due to the sensational nature of this article. Stick to evidence and keep your dramatization to yourselves. But thanks for helping clean out my inbox!
Nothing sensational about this article, from my point of view. I found it very helpful. I will NOT be ever flying United or Delta, when I can help it.
Thank you!
Mahalo Candy!
Aloha.
Seems to me evidence has been presented; where’s your beef, Katrina?
Mahalo nui Nick!
Aloha.
I have been treated very badly by United in the past. The crews, ground personnel, and attitude toward passengers is surly, disrespectful, and denigrating. I was once forced to repack my carry on by the gate attendant because she did not like a “bulge” she saw in the side pocket. It was a nightgown! I was in first class. While she was busy with me, countless travelers with very oversized carry on luggage boarded the plane. Was I singled out because I am elderly and in a wheelchair? Or maybe she didn’t like my looks. Now I wonder what she would have done if I protested the repacking, or worse yet, if I did not comply with her every mean comment and order. As it turned out, she would not let me board with the standard carry on and it was checked in with all my meds and food. In LA no wheelchair was there for my arrival and no ground personnel were anywhere to be seen. I limped to the gate where, after one hour, I found an airport trolley to bring me to the gate of my connecting flight. As this was a direct violation of the ADA, I reported United to the FAA who fined them $23,000 after a few months of investigation. So What? That is a pittance in relation to the billions they rake in. Obviously the airline has sunken even lower.
I no longer fly United and have not for many years. Everyone should do likewise and boycott this airline. It deserves to go straight down the tubes where it belongs. If enough people boycott United, something will give. No one I know likes this airline. Deservedly so.
Totally agree! THANK YOU Ellen!
So, what exactly are our rights if we’re bumped? At one time this week I read if the airline delayed you over two hours when bumped you would receive 2 times the price of your ticket.
I have no idea what happens if you’re bumped to the back when you paid full fare.
Personally, we left United several years ago because of too many canceled flights between SFO and Sacramento with no compensation.
We have only flown United twice and BOTH times we were left stranded with little recourse and absolutely NO offer of compensation. I think they gave us a few extra miles one time. I have since used all of my United miles for restaurant.com vouchers and plan NEVER to fly United again (and we have not had that unhappy experience now for over ten years).
We flew American once to Hawaii and were left stranded overnight due to blue collar flu in 2007. Have never flown American since. They put us up in a HORRID hotel in an area where no one spoke English and offered NO comp.
We flew Aloha and were happy with that flight. But, alas, they are no longer in business.
We have flown Hawaiian Airlines and love it and plan to fly to Kauai later this year on Hawaiian.
I do believe the ONLY language some companies understand is NO FURTHER BUSINESS.
No one should have to endure what these paying customers have endured at the hands of United Airlines or any other airline – and MANY OTHERS have and suffered in silence while they were ‘forced’ off their flights due to whatever the airline deemed a good excuse.
If we treated our customers with this level of disrespect – we would be out of business in no time flat.
There are other airlines and I would definitely fly another line – until, of course, they screwed me over as well. :0(
What’s next? I don’t want to know…………
I’m with Katrina. This is certainly an opinion piece, not unbiased news. I’ve flown hundreds of thousands of miles for both pleasure and business, including with United who has a hub in my city. They’re not my favorite, but they do get me where I want to go. I’ve been inconvenienced at times by a number of airlines around the world, yet I’ve have many a great flight too. More good than bad for sure.
In the Kauai case, if I really needed to get home, I take the available seat, the $500 voucher and go home. Am I aggravated with the airline? Of course. Do my immediate needs get met, sure they do. Other than the elderly woman who responded on this page and has a valid complaint, what in the world do you think the airline OWES you for your inconvenience? Free flights for life? A room at the Four Seasons? Come on, snowflakes.
Read your passenger bill of rights BEFORE you fly (and complain); know the laws and what compensation may be due you if an aviation issue arises. Learn that no matter how aggravated you are, if you pose a security risk, the proper authorities may remove you – even by force – if you persist. No different than if you are belligerent with a policeman when he’s giving you a speeding ticket on the highway. Travel informed and you’ll not feel victimized any longer.
Air travel security is serious business and I’m very glad it is. We live in a dangerous world and not everyone tells the truth about their situation or has good intentions. The doctor who was removed from the UAL flight this week certainly was no honest, upstanding citizen as we’ve come to find out.
Thank you, Stephanie, for posting some common sense – it seems to be lacking in many people’s knee-jerk reactions to this case!
People do need to travel informed, and continue to seek facts when interpreting the “news”. Think critically, and don’t think what happened with one airline doesn’t happen with another! The amount of ignorant misjudgement in this case is appalling.
Stephanie’s comments are most disturbing! What has his background to do with the violence done to him? We need to resist such thinking. Blame the victim? Perhaps airlines should mandate that only angels can fly?
My thoughts exactly. Whatever this guy did in the past has nothing to do with this incident and I’m appalled that UAL lawyers dug that up and threw that out there, to denigrate the passenger whom they treated so horribly and justify what UAL and airport security did.
When one is SEATED on an airplane (ANY carrier) one has a reasonable expectation that they should be transported to their destination. For an airline to wait until after a passenger is seated to then forcibly un-seat them is inexcusable. If Stephanie doesn’t mind paying to be treated disrespectfully like cattle, then that’s her problem. No one should tolerate being kicked off a plane after they’ve taken their seat because the airline didn’t plan properly. That should not be the passenger’s problem. An airline that engages in this practice is just poorly managed and it’s simple a bad business practice on the part of the airline.