United Drags Passenger from Plane

Quote: ams288

UHHHHHHH....

Apparently you guys have been smearing the wrong Doctor!

David Thanh Duc Dao - United Airlines attack victim

David Anh Duy Dao - doctor who apparently traded painkillers for sex

In addition to the money he's gonna get from United, I suspect he's gonna get some more money from that newspaper that libeled him.

I think it helps to show that it matters where you get your news.

I tried searching for this story, and got a lot of tabloids in the hits. I didn't see a legitimate news source in the mix at all.

Once there are 'problem passengers' the pilots don't want to take off, the flight attendants know that problems on escalate in flight. So even though its a 'feeder' airline using United's computers, codes and logo, its still a decision that any airline would have made. The cops got pissed off at him but that is a risk.

Its the Cult of Low Prices (Atlantic Magazine term) or perhaps its the ultimate result of all this bargaining that goes on: garage sales, craigslist ads, whatever... its always "negotiate" or should I say "haggle". Craigslist "prices" are meaningless. Even a maid service wants to see a job rather than bid by the hour. Hotels force housekeepers to 'bid' for a room without seeing its condition first, but household cleaning maid services want to 'see' the job which really means haggle with the homeowner so as to maximize their income as if they were an airline selling seats. Many passengers buy tickets without knowing type of plane or load factor or cattle-boarding sequence, legroom or if you will have a young attractive female as a seat mate. Its time to end haggling by the airlines and end haggling by the passengers who want 'comped flights/hotels/cash/"miles"/whatever.

Perhaps its simply time to end this airline ticket pricing model of time of purchase versus price. Mathematically it may work out better for the airline but add up the cost of these incidents, the cost of hotels and free flights, its perhaps not so profitable for the airlines. (That woman who made eleven grand by being flexible on a family trip to Florida sure gamed the system).

I think we need to realize that Republic is a low cost, low wage, stepping stone for pilots and flight attendants who hope to move up to United's better pay, better hours, better hotels, better rest breaks. So maybe Republic personnel lacked sufficient experience or training, I don't know. Maybe alot of things could have gone differently but one wonders what sort of "margin" is there. How close are ALL passengers to becoming money-grubbing pricks who want to hold the airline hostage? How close are ALL flight attendants/Ramp Agents to being arbitrary and capricious rather than seeking volunteers more dilligently? How close are all cops to "losing their cool" when confronting a fool who doesn't realize its time to calm yourself and walk off the darned plane and curse your luck in a quiet manner over a gin and tonic rather than a police baton?

We use the haggling model and wind up with tired inexperienced pilots, stressed out ramp agents and attendants, stressed out passengers. Everyone looking for an "edge". We need to have some sort of pricing model that takes into account such PR fiascos and the eleven thousand dollar non-passenger. Perhaps its time to stop shearing the sheep quite so close to their skin. End the Resort Fees, Valet Parking Fees, Mandatory Surcharge, Toke Fund raiding at casinos and all the posters here will chear; end the same attitudes in airline travel and the posters will say its 'unworkable'.

Quote: Dalex64

I think it helps to show that it matters where you get your news.

I tried searching for this story, and got a lot of tabloids in the hits. I didn't see a legitimate news source in the mix at all.

That's the hard thing about this story - no legitimate news source would report the stuff about his alleged "troubled past" in the first place, as it has nothing to do with the incident on the plane.

But people like EB and AZ who lurk in the bowels of the internet read it somewhere and reported it here as fact.

It could be true. It could be they slandered the wrong guy. I'm sure we will find out soon enough.

Either way its irrelevant to this story, but some people seem to think it is.

Quote: ams288

Either way its irrelevant to this story, but some people seem to think it is.

Ah, but in the New Journalism, it is relevant. Look at the Ghomesi verdict on rape as foreplay that was recently mentioned on this forum. The one year anniversary passes and of course there is the obligatory rehash wherein the vocabulary reveals what the story is. The judge ruled the witnesses were not credible and repeatedly told different stories to the police and the press. Yet the annivesary "news" uses terms such as 'victims' and 'survivors' and 'reliving' ... the journalists do not say 'perjurers' or 'liars' or 'vindictive money-grubbing opportunists'.

"no legitimate news source"... precisely! There is no legitimate news source anymore.

Quote: ams288

That's the hard thing about this story - no legitimate news source would report the stuff about his alleged "troubled past" in the first place, as it has nothing to do with the incident on the plane.

Oh, REALLY? Sorry to burst your little bubble, but news outlets report "troubled past" when it has nothing to do all the time. Or do you not remember all the background on Zimmerman to name just one?

No matter his background I will keep to what I have already said. He should have known to behave better.

Quote: AZDuffman

He should have known to behave better.

And I actually agree. I would have never thrown a fit like that.

But he did. And United acted poorly. And they are paying the price for it.

Quote: ams288

And I actually agree. I would have never thrown a fit like that.

But he did. And United acted poorly. And they are paying the price for it.

Airlines treating passengers like cattle is nothing new. But when you act like that you lose credibility with me and many others.

I own no stock in UAL and never would in any airline, so my only interest is I do not like seeing someone getting cash for being a jerk.

Now they're saying the two names are
the same person. He got gay patients
hooked on Oxy and forced them to have
sex in exchange for drugs. He was also
on the poker circuit for 4 year and won
a quarter mil and lost more than a
quarter mil. We can guess where the
money will go from any settlement.

He's still in the hospital, probably in
traction from a broken back, broken
legs, a concussion, a bad spleen and
severe hangnails, or whatever else
his million dollar lawyer can dream up.

Quote: Evenbob

Now they're saying the two names are
the same person. He got gay patients
hooked on Oxy and forced them to have
sex in exchange for drugs. He was also
on the poker circuit for 4 year and won
a quarter mil and lost more than a
quarter mil. We can guess where the
money will go from any settlement.

He's still in the hospital, probably in
traction from a broken back, broken
legs, a concussion, a bad spleen and
severe hangnails, or whatever else
his million dollar lawyer can dream up.

Wonder if he is calling (505) 503-4455 or the new number in Omaha?

David Dao, Doctor Dragged Off Plane, Files Court Papers Demanding United Airlines Preserve Evidence

He will be holding a press conference with his attorneys tomorrow. Maybe they will address whether he is the painkiller-for-sex Dr. Dao, or if that was another guy...