United’s booting of passenger was even dumber than it looks: staff could have flown cheaper on other flights
Staff who wanted seats could simply have taken discounted courtesy flights on other airlines, for much less than the compensation offered to ejected customers
A viral video of a screaming, bleeding, passenger being dragged off a United flight Sunday by police raises a question: Was it even necessary to kick passengers off the flight to accommodate four airline employees who wanted transportation?
The answer is no, passenger advocates say.
The airlines have agreements with one another to give discounts to employees of other carriers based on the distance flown. It’s a huge discount from usual fares.
For example, United could have sent its employees by taxi about an hour across Chicago from O’Hare airport to Midway airport and put them on a Southwest flight to Louisville, Kentucky, where they were needed on Monday.
