How United Selects Passengers For Involuntary Bumping
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NEW YORK (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - In a report issued Thursday about the April 9 dragging incident involving passenger David Dao on an overcrowded United Express plane, United spelled out how it selects passengers for involuntary bumping.
United says the process is automated — gate agents don't decide who stays and who goes.
- First, anyone without a seat assignment is denied boarding.
- Passengers who paid the least for their ticket top the list for being bumped involuntarily.
- Passengers who paid the same fare are sorted by when they checked in for the flight.
- Customers with status in United's MileagePlus frequent-flyer program won't be bumped unless everyone on the plane has status, in which case the people with the lowest status get bumped first.
- Unaccompanied minors and passengers with disabilities won't be bumped.
@United overbook #flight3411 and decided to force random passengers off the plane. Here's how they did it: pic.twitter.com/QfefM8X2cW
— Jayse D. Anspach (@JayseDavid) April 10, 2017
News about the involuntary bumping policy come as United announces that they're raising the payment limit — to $10,000 — to customers who give up seats on oversold flights.
United is working to repair its battered image after they had to "re-accommodate" passenger Dao in Chicago, kicked a couple flying to their wedding off a plane in Texas, and most recently had a giant show rabbit die on one of its flights from London.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)