Ann Coulter vs. David Dao

Earlier this year, Doctor David Dao was asked to give up his seat.  He refused.  When the police arrived to escort him from the plane, he continued to refuse until he was forcibly dragged from the plane.  United Airlines was blasted in the press and soon settled for an 'undisclosed amount.'

 

This weekend, Ann Coulter was asked to give up her seat.  Though angry, she gave up her seat but scorched Delta Airlines on Twitter.  Delta has responded to her tweets by explaining that her tweets are unseemly and they will refund the $30 difference in price between her booked seat and the seat where she was relocated.

 

Dao refused to cooperate and United has paid him a small fortune.  Coulter grudgingly cooperated and has been offered a pittance and told to stop badmouthing Delta.  Who played it better?  Is there a lesson to learn in the treatment of these passengers?  It sure looks like the airlines are incentivizing uncooperative behavior while also providing a disincentive to cooperate.  Not a good idea.

Airline Hell?

Ever since the man was dragged off the plane, there has been an uptick in stories about how bad the airlines are.  What does this mean?  I see two likely scenarios:

One: Airlines have become terrible recently.  Not that airlines have been great, but for some reason they have descended to a less tolerable level of customer service.  The news media has recognized this and is giving exactly the amount of coverage that it merits.

Two: The dragging story was a ratings winner and the media are currently in a feeding frenzy for more stories that reflect badly on the airlines.  Thus, though the level of service is no different from what it has been, the added attention is highlighting what wasn't considered newsworthy before the dragging.

 

My vote is for scenario 2.  More than a million people fly each day and it is a virtual certainty that a few of those people had a bad or even disastrous experience.  Right now, those 1 in a million stories are getting front page treatment and painting the airlines as villains.  The airlines are cruel capitalists who don't care about their customers and the proof is that they do not achieve a 100% satisfaction rating.

 

The dragged passenger has settled with United, as all knew he would.  This should be a lesson:  Never go willingly, make them drag you and there is a payday in your near future.

Rewarding Bad Behavior?

We are still in the early days of every incident having video available and are shocked by events that will eventually not be newsworthy.  Sunday's United Airlines kerfuffle is one such incident.  When asked to leave the plain, he refused.  When security came to escort him from the plane, he still refused.  When they sought to use minimal force, he resisted.  At each step, he could have submitted to leave the plane.  This path of escalation has happened before.  Last year, there was a middle school girl who refused her teacher's instruction to go to the principal's office.  Her refusal and resistance eventually escalated to a police officer manhandling her, which was filmed.  This is an easy game to play and it will continue to be played so long as it has the current impact.  Anyone can do it.  Get pulled over for a defective blinker and then refuse to hand over license and registration.  Then refuse to get out of the car.  Eventually, you will find yourself handcuffed in the back of a police car on the way to jail.  Easy.  Infallible.  And if only that last bit of being dragged out of the car, thrown to the street, and cuffed is on film, you are golden.  The headline writes itself:

 

Police brutality over faulty tail light!

Here's the important part.  Those who game this early will get the most benefits.  I have no doubt that United will pay a very large settlement to the man who refused to get off the plane.  Compared to the $800 offer to get bumped, he is going to make out like a bandit.  If he had gone quietly, that is all he would have gotten.  Making a scene, and the news, is going to be very profitable.

 

One passenger supposedly offered to be bumped for $1600.  Was that amount beyond the discretion of the boarding agents?  Probably.  That discretion is likely to increase to avoid a future incident like this.

 

Overbooking flights inevitably leads to bumping passengers from time to time.  If Joe has paid for a seat, there is a good case for breech of contract if he is then booted (doubtless there is fine print on the ticket about bumping).  Though United is far from blameless, the intransigent passenger is more in the wrong.  If I tell someone to get off my plane, I expect to be obeyed.  They may sue me later but private property is private property.