A viral video of
a screaming passenger being dragged off a United flight Sunday by police raises a question: Was it even necessary to kick passengers off the flight to accommodate four airline employees who needed transportation?
The answer is no, passenger advocates say.
The airlines have agreements with one another to give discounts to employees of other carriers based on the distance flown. It’s a huge discount from usual fares.
For example, United could have sent its employees by taxi about an hour across Chicago from O’Hare airport to Midway airport and put them on a Southwest flight to Louisville, Kentucky, where they were needed Monday.
The top fare for the Southwest flight between Chicago and Louisville is $243, so under the airlines’ agreement, four United employees could have flown for slightly more than $100 combined with the discount. Southwest offers three nonstop flights from Midway to Louisville on Sundays. The trip takes about an hour.
Or the United employees could have taken one of four Sunday nonstop flights on American Airlines from O’Hare to Louisville. Undiscounted fares on the route are $221 in the main cabin and $321 in first class.
By contrast, United was offering each of the four passengers as much as $800 in compensation and a hotel room to give up their seats for the employees.
