Re:Analysis of the United Airlines passenger removal incident
by AndrewUnmuted on Thursday April 20, 2017 @06:25PM
(#14161457)
With regards to your proposed solution... I've often wondered how it is not considered fraudulent to overbook a flight already.
Isn't the act of overbooking akin to writing a check for an amount of money that you do not have in your account balance? If this can be considered fraud, why do the airlines get a break?
Re:Analysis of the United Airlines passenger removal incident
by wayn3 on Thursday April 20, 2017 @06:28PM
(#14161469)
because a ticket is not really a ticket. it is more like an agreement that if you show up at the airport and the airlins is down to transporting you, they could go through with that plan.
when you book a ticket, it says in the fineprint that you acquiring that ticket doesnt mean that you get to fly.
it is more like a bank pretending to have your exact balance available at all times. in fact, they do not. they kinda bet on the fact that not all customers want to cash out at the same time, which works almost all the time except when the banking sector melts down and all customers try to cash out at once and then banks have to admit that they cant really pay you out even if they wanted to.
police in a lot of other countries achieve a lot more by just convincing uncooperative individuals with words than they do with blunt, pointless force, in murica.
there seems to be the strongly held opinion that "if they do something wrong, we have the right to treat them like shit and whatever that gets them is well deserved".
the idea that this was actually police, and not some random "security grunt" went completely over my head because this is not how police acts where I live.
for the overarching problem, theres a really simple solution: make it legislation that an airline may not book more seats than they have available. if you overbooked trains or busses or cruise ships or any other mode of transportation where you require a seat, people would call bullshit. airlines, however, somehow obtained the right to sell "the idea of a seat".