I just watched the video. Unfortunately, displacing passengers is a sometimes inevitable and always unpleasant measure that is taken by ALL airlines. Shortage of seats can be caused by more than just overselling a flight. Weather delays and cancellations routinely cause this same problem. As a matter of fact Delta just took almost a week to fully recover from passenger displacement caused by storms that affected their flights in the Atlanta area. Other reasons for shortage of seats include weight restrictions for weight and balance issues when there is a lot of cargo on board, as well as cancellations caused by aircraft maintenance and crew illegalities. Basically, this happens more often than anyone would like but it's part of air travel. It's why as passengers people should always pack overnight essentials in their carry-on bags.
Now to address this particular incident. This was a United Express flight operated by Republic Airlines. It was a small plane with a maximum passenger capacity of 70, making seat availability all the more of a problem. Unfortunately for whatever reason United Airlines ended up with four last minute crew members that needed to get to Louisville on that flight. Given that Louisville is not a major hub of United Airlines, there are not flight attendants readily available there. The fact that this crew of four was being deadheaded to Louisville most likely meant they needed them there to work a flight out of that city. Not getting the crew there would most likely mean canceling a flight out of Louisville. A flight that would have affected 70 or more people, many of whom most likely had connections spreading out all over the country. So it became necessary for seats to be made available for the crew to get on that flight. Again, it's never a comfortable situation to tell a passenger that they are being taken off an aircraft. No one likes when that happens. Not the customer service agent having to deliver the bad news, not the flight crew, and certainly not the passenger. BUT I have seen it happen many times and ever so reluctantly and begrudgingly the passenger gathers their belongings and gets off the aircraft.
Now, the gentleman in this particular instance obviously decided not to comply with the airline's request that he step off the airplane. I believe there has to be more to this story. United Airlines...any airline...does not go from zero to physically removing a passenger off a flight. After watching the video, I personally think the passenger was a bit off and probably behaving irrationally. Again, NO ONE likes to be taken off a flight, but there is civilized behavior and then there is this. Should he have literally been physically removed? I can't say without knowing all the details....but I will say this...with all the other passengers onboard and filming with their phones...I didn't see anyone else volunteering to get off the plane. Lots of critics in the peanut gallery. It is certainly arguable that the airline could have handled the situation better, but they couldn't hold the flight forever and sweet talking obviously didn't get them anywhere. It's a terrible situation, but even as I write this there is more coming to light about the passenger involved in this incident. Personally I don't think a rational person would have had to have been removed in this manner.
