Any One Going to Fly on United?

We have all seen the video.

It is all over Facebook and everywhere else.  The images are shocking, the facts are even worse.

A person books a ticket on United Airlines.  A Person pays for the Ticket.  The person boards the plane that the ticket they bought is associated with.  The person sits down in the seat assigned.

The Airline decides it needs to toss off some paying passengers to seat staff .   Some people don’t want to get off. Fine.  United Airlines sends on a chap to  drag a paying passenger off the plane.  Drag him off as if he is a bag of dirt.

What did this paying passenger do?

Nothing.

United Airlines ‘over booked’.   Apparently, they tend to sell more seats than they have.   Having sold more seats then exist on the plane, and needing to move staff, (much more important than passengers)  decided to toss some paying passengers off the plane as bags of dirt.

No, I will not fly United Airlines.

Not that other airlines are so charming.

Flying is a form of light torture today.

Firstly, one has to be at the airport two hours before the flight.  This is to allow them and their luggage to be searched.  This is pretty bad on the best days.

Second, the planes are very uncomfortable.  Seats are jammed together with little space between the front and back.  It is a virtual middle passage.

Thirdly, once one is on the plane, enroute to their destination,  arriving on time is ‘ify’ at best.   Some delays are a few minutes, some a few hours.

Fourthly, there is no food, unless one pays for it.  The ‘snacks’ that may be provided are pretty crappy.

Fifthly, one feels more like a prisoner being transported from one institution to another, than a passenger who chose to fly.   Who paid a lot of money to fly.

I never liked flying much, now I hate it.   There is nothing nice about flying.  Nothing comfortable, nothing pleasant.

From the arrival at the airport and the checks and body searches, to the long wait on uncomfortable seats until the flight is called, and then onto the horrible plane itself.

That the decent of air transport to the level of a minivan from Half Way Tree to town at rush hour is now standard makes what happened on this United Airline plane not unexpected.

That this man was dragged off the plane, not a terrorist, not a bad behaving guy, but dragged off because he thought he had rights, having paid for the ticket, is just the first in what is a long line of abuses.

United Airlines is not going to easily recover from this event.