Overbooking is airline’s fault, not passengers’

A video posted on Facebook late Sunday evening shows a passenger on a United Airlines flight being forcibly removed from the plane after he refused to give up his seat voluntarily because the airline overbooked the trip.

This is just one of hundreds of reasons why I would rather walk than fly United. This poor guy got the typical customer service treatment from — consistently — the worst airline out there. Nick Gleis

Does a professional doctor behave this way? Why disregard the instructions on a commercial flight? Federal agents don’t play around when it comes to inappropriate air traffic behavior. I’m sure the full story will come out eventually. Angela White

Why is United using the “overbooked” excuse? The flight doesn’t count as overbooked when you decide you need four seats for employees. United shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind the overbooked story. Derek Ellington

If people were so concerned with this doctor being at work the next day, why didn’t they give up their seat? Enos Conrack

Overbooking is a practice the airline have done for decades, but I’ve never heard of them saying that a flight was overbooked because they had a crew they needed to ferry. This situation was bungled from the beginning. Putting the gate crew into a position of having to create a very hostile situation like that is just ridiculous. Robert James

I’d like to know who authorized the boarding and forcible removal of a passenger, who has done nothing wrong, so a United employee could have a seat. Then punching the passenger only to re-board him! Whatever solution they arrived at to allow the gentleman to re-board should have been implemented in the first place. Rebecca Smith Gorman

Whoever made the decision to do this should be fired! It’s a five-hour drive from Chicago to Louisville. Get the employees a rental car. Save yourself the public relations nightmare! Joe Mikitish