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United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

latimes.com

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Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#321

Post by nsnick »

yeukhon wrote: post #316
anovikov wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Due to airlines' razor thin margins, this is simply impossible. That simple. Every single traditional airline will go bankrupt if it stopped overbooking. Unfortunately it is the greed and stupidity of us consumers that drove this market into the ground. We shouldn't blame airlines. Think about this next time when you pick 'order by price' in skyscanner...

This is a scary statement that no one is willing to test it. But is it really true? I offer an alternate theory. It won't lead to an airline bankruptcy.How about we create a cancellation fee. UA can add an incentive (not sure if one already exist) to their mileage club membership giving club member free cancellation up to 5 hours before the onboard time. * Free cancellation up to 24 hours, and thereafter no refund pl…

Airlines already take your money when you cancel. They overbook because so many people cancel that they have vacant seats, meaning they can sell X% of seats twice.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#322

Post by magic_beans »

e40 wrote: post #302
imgabe wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other issue is to stop overbooking every single flight and allow some slack to handle these unexpected situations that inevitably come up.

They will never do that, since it impacts profit.

Why can't they just make the tickets non-refundable? They still get paid!

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#323

Post by yeukhon »

nsnick wrote: post #321
yeukhon wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a scary statement that no one is willing to test it. But is it really true? I offer an alternate theory. It won't lead to an airline bankruptcy.How about we create a cancellation fee. UA can add an incentive (not sure if one already exist) to their mileage club membership giving club member free cancellation up to 5 hours before the onboard time. * Free cancellation up to 24 hours, and thereafter no refund pl…

Airlines already take your money when you cancel. They overbook because so many people cancel that they have vacant seats, meaning they can sell X% of seats twice.

Yes, I am aware they take my money. But my point is to add cancellation fee to cover up the losses after making overbooking illegal. Profit will go down, but they avoid delays and other unnecessary disputes/situations.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#324

Post by dqv »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #205
colmvp wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling it a first-world problem is being a little dismissive about the situation. He/she was going to arrive 1.5 days later to his destination because of a flight cancelation. Politely asking to use the lounge as minor compensation is not an unreasonable ask. If it can't be done, it can't be done. I'm sure the OP would've been disappointed but reasonable with a different response. Something like, "I'm sorry your fli…

The choice of words was deliberate. On one side of the counter is the OP, with a stable, well-paying job, on the other side is the on-contract employee working one, possibly several jobs that won't pay much about minimum wage. The US are a pretty harsh country to live in when you are at poverty level. Of course there are people who have it worse than a front-desk guy at an airport, but that doesn't change the fact th…

There is an overwhelming sense of superiority here on HN when it comes to the proletariat.

They will decry working conditions (if it could mean they would be subject to those conditions), but willfully ignore the gap between themselves and laborers.

>would you like to put a value on the fact that I will never fly with you again then?

As if we're supposed to expect that someone who acts like this even asked the employees nicely. The employees should be scared they'll lose their job if they don't do exactly what I say!

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#325

Post by PJDK »

e40 wrote: post #302
imgabe wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other issue is to stop overbooking every single flight and allow some slack to handle these unexpected situations that inevitably come up.

They will never do that, since it impacts profit.

Also decreases carbon emissions...

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#326

Post by Retric »

anovikov wrote: post #307
e40 wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will never do that, since it impacts profit.

Due to airlines' razor thin margins, this is simply impossible. That simple. Every single traditional airline will go bankrupt if it stopped overbooking. Unfortunately it is the greed and stupidity of us consumers that drove this market into the ground. We shouldn't blame airlines. Think about this next time when you pick 'order by price' in skyscanner...

In a highly competitive industry a regulation that prevented overbooking would have near zero impact. Ticket prices would rise to compensate, but a 5% change in price would have minimal impact on overall utilization.

That said, it's very hard for one airline to avoid the race to the bottom unless they spread that across the company's processes. AKA, we don't double book, we don't have ridiculous fees etc, your ticket costs X% more, but and they capture a different market segment.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#327

Post by rohit89 »

peckrob wrote: post #293
_red wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IF the VLJ (Very Light Jet) segment would ever fully blossom a major Uber-style disruption would be possible. The biggest thing that could prevent this welcomed development? The government. Specifically that the FAA is likely to clamp down on "Uber Air Taxi" market and declare them common carriers. Got to protect those monopolies.

> Specifically that the FAA is likely to clamp down on "Uber Air Taxi" market and declare them common carriers. The FAA has some really arcane rules, which is why aviation law is an actual speciality. Like, for instance, as a private pilot I can't fly a coworker with me to a conference and be reimbursed by my employer, but I can fly just myself and be reimbursed. There's a lot of subtleties to the FARs. But if you're…

For something like "Uber Air Taxi", they should probably do away with pilots altogether and have it work on autopilot.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#328

Post by gizmo385 »

anovikov wrote: post #307
e40 wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will never do that, since it impacts profit.

Due to airlines' razor thin margins, this is simply impossible. That simple. Every single traditional airline will go bankrupt if it stopped overbooking. Unfortunately it is the greed and stupidity of us consumers that drove this market into the ground. We shouldn't blame airlines. Think about this next time when you pick 'order by price' in skyscanner...

You want to expand on that last point a bit? How is looking for the best deal on expensive travel "greed and stupidity"?

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#329

Post by scriptkiddy »

tici_88 wrote: post #17

Travelling in the US or with US airlines is not looking very good right now. Not just the United incident(s) but also TSA, Trump travel restrictions, flights constantly overbooked, massively late etc. I wonder if it will start impacting traveller and tourism numbers at some point. I think anyone who doesn't really need to be in the US and/or is planning travelling with kids is likely to have some second thoughts at t…

> I wonder if this is a first step of a large trend yet to develop.

I sure hope not. Isolation only fuels nationalism. Nationalism fuels irrational decisions. Irrational decisions lead to fascism.

If you want your people to dehumanize a culture, the first step is to isolate your people from that culture. Don't allow your people any opportunity to empathize with that culture. If you continue to isolate your people, you can breed an "us vs them" sentiment. This is perfect if you want to start a war with popular support.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#330

Post by rconti »

Klathmon wrote: post #63
tici_88 wrote: post #17

Travelling in the US or with US airlines is not looking very good right now. Not just the United incident(s) but also TSA, Trump travel restrictions, flights constantly overbooked, massively late etc. I wonder if it will start impacting traveller and tourism numbers at some point. I think anyone who doesn't really need to be in the US and/or is planning travelling with kids is likely to have some second thoughts at t…

Anecdotally I've noticed that for like 5 years now my friends and family have a pretty severe aversion to flying anywhere for anything. From needing to show up hours before the flight, to the invasive screenings, the insane restrictions on what you can and cannot bring, the sentiment that if you check any baggage it's basically as good as gone, the ever increasing cost, the delays, and even things like the worry abou…

I love flying AND driving. I used to regularly do Seattle->SJ by car (did it 4x in 4 weeks one time) and really enjoy the drive.

Flying commercially sucks, of course, but the security line concerns are overblown. They've been saying "3 hours before departure for international, 2 hours for domestic" for decades, but I just ignore it. I routinely show up 30min before boarding for domestic flights (so, 55-60min before departure) and never have an issue. Worst security line I've seen at SFO was 25min. I was sweating it a bit, but I got to my gate exactly at boarding time, and it was a ghost town.. they hadn't even bothered to get the gate agents there yet!

The only thing you have to be careful of is, if checking a bag, to have it checked 45 or 50min before departure, that's the the tricky one.

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