has this ever happened on UK airlines?

[francovendee]

As far as I know all traditional airlines do this, except the manhandling bit.
As a matter of course, they sell more seats than are available on the aircraft because they know that a certain percentage of folk won't turn up on the day.
If they get their calculations wrong and everyone turns up, then they have to 'bump' some passengers.
Usually involves offering a reasonable sweetener such as on the next flight with an upgrade to business class, or some other freebie.
Whether they do it to enable staff to get spaces, I don't know but if they have to move staff to meet other schedules then it would seem a possibility.

If you are correct then surely this is a case of fraud? The airline knowingly selling a seat that isn't available?
Is the percentage that don't turn up paying for the seat anyway, so the airlines gets paid for it twice?
One more reason to add to my long list of why I hate traveling by air.

[softlips]

All airlines overbook, in many ways it makes sense. If you're in First or Business you will get priority. I miss at least two flights a week but as I'm usually Business I get the next flight without question. It will mean occasionally someone can't fly though.

United handled this all wrong, the decision should have been made prior to boarding not afterwards.

[NUKe]

All airlines overbook, in many ways it makes sense. If you're in First or Business you will get priority. I miss at least two flights a week but as I'm usually Business I get the next flight without question. It will mean occasionally someone can't fly though.

United handled this all wrong, the decision should have been made prior to boarding not afterwards.

you miss at least 2 flights a week how many flights do you make a week. I used to fly twice a week and that was too much in todays security climate post 911, I try not fly at all if I can help it , it just takes too long to get through security these days,

[thirdcrank]

At least they didn't shoot him.

[mercalia]

At least they didn't shoot him.

[Inappropriate language]

BBC news just said that the shares of United Airlines have gone down.

[Mike Sales]

Wow nowt like a bit of generalisation.

And of course you would never generalise?

So that makes your generalisation acceptable?

I made no generalisation. Reread.
I pointed out a previous generalisation by you but this was censored. It seems you may make allegations of generalising but I may not.

[bikepacker]

All airlines do this. The decision to use force was made by airport police, not airline employees, although the airline's handling of it was pretty poor.

First, the airline only offered $800 to passengers to get someone to leave. In my experience, if the airline keeps upping the offer, eventually they'll find someone willing to take it. It sure would have been cheaper than the lawsuit that's likely to come from this.

I was waiting to board an American Airways flight from Dallas to El Paso when they announced due to a technical problem they had to use a smaller aircraft and wanted volunteers to wait till the next day. I wrote down on my pad and gave it to the gate agent that it would take; a rental car, a two night Days or Holiday Inn voucher and $1000 dollars for me to give up my seat. The agent agreed if I drop my demand to $800 I ended up driving nearly 700 miles over 3 days to El Paso. So $800 seems to be that limit.

[JeremyB]

https://www.facebook.com/LADbible/video ... 473083321/

[mercalia]

https://www.facebook.com/LADbible/videos/3169638473083321/

nice

[thirdcrank]

I see the big chief is still digging

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39572841

FWIW, I do feel some sympathy with the airport police called to sort out the mess created by the airlines staff. They will have had no room for manoeuvre either physically, in the confined space of the aircraft or in the sense of negotiating a reasonable result. I presume that they are more security guards or at best, company police with little discretion.

Nearly 50 years ago I dealt with something similar, pre-facebook, pre-twitter etc. I was on nights and I'd had to go back into the police station for something when the cool night air was disturbed by loud blasts on a motor horn outside, a signal that the crew of a bus were in difficulties. Youngest man in the front office and the only one with a coat on and out I went, drawing myself up to my full 5' 8" The conductor (as in bus conductor, not orchestral or electricity) announced something on the lines of "Two at the front upstairs. Causing trouble and refusing to pay. The bus isn't moving till they are off." In those days, a bus at that time of night was packed, many on the way home from a boozer. Upstairs I went (stairs at the back in those days) and remembering all the advice about looking out for a foot coming out to trip you up and keeping on your feet to avoid a kicking, I marched to the front of the upper deck. The troublemakers were two timid young lads who wouldn't say "boo" to a goose. No room for manoeuvre so off they came. Into my panda car and probably home sooner than on the bus to a mum who had been getting worried. In fact, they'd been on some trip and had ended up back at Leeds bus station with no money and when the conductor had finally reached them on the bus, they had offered their names and addresses. Mum's worries turned to anger because she had some connection with Leeds City Transport possibly as a union rep., but she knew that the Council had a policy of not putting children off buses for want of a fare. But she did recognise that I'd had no room for manoeuvre and took it up with Leeds City Transport.

[Bonefishblues]

There are all sorts of accounts of these events flying around. One stated that the Doc originally took the money to get off, then changed his mind when he found out it was the last plane.

In any event, Simon Calder gave a very cogent explanation of the legal status of the Doc who was insisting on staying on - that is, he had no right to refuse to leave in the face of the Captain's orders.

That it was about as badly handled as might humanly be possible isn't in doubt though.

[thirdcrank]

The captain obviously has the authority but with that authority must come responsibility and to the extent that this has happened under his command isn't very clever. (To be fair, perhaps he was ensuring that all the bike tyres had been deflated. Sorry. )

[Tangled Metal]

It was on the news that about 50,000 people were bumped from planes leaving a UK airport last year. So yes it does happen i hope in a better manner.

[Bonefishblues]

The captain obviously has the authority but with that authority must come responsibility and to the extent that this has happened under his command isn't very clever. (To be fair, perhaps he was ensuring that all the bike tyres had been deflated. Sorry. )

TBF to the Captain, what was he to do? How was he to know that exactly the people you would call on in this kind of scenario were going to turn into pscho-nutter attack-dogs*?

*(I harbour a desire to be a Daily Wail copywriter, clearly)

[thirdcrank]

I presume the captain's duties include ensuring that things are done correctly. I don't claim any specific expertise but I suspect that so-called bumping is normally done before anybody gets near the plane and actually turfing people off because too many have got on is unusual. The captain cannot supervise every bit of the procedure so they must delegate their authority to others who must understand the captain's policies. Somebody, acting on the captain's direct or implied authority has decided that airline employees take priority over passengers already on the plane. On the face of it, the captain has delegated that authority to somebody who was not up to the job. We are not talking here about some obviously violent person but a relatively elderly professional man who somebody has managed to provoke and then injure. It's a situation where somebody needed to have the sense to say "We have messed up here, let's sort it out properly." Sending for the airport security was the easy option which has turned septic. FWIW, I see that one of the airport police involved has now been suspended.

(BTW, I don't underestimate the difficulties of smoothly moving a totally passive person who simply screams "You are hurting me!" even when that's not the case.)