In hindsight - United could have done so many different things to have been in a better place

[Le Gaucher]

Yes - The Officers very rough in handling , and United was heavy handed in how it approached the problem of getting its employees to the destination. United must pay for its misdeeds and I hope it will, by settling big with the passenger.

Yet most of the solutions that have been bandied about , as to how United Airlines could have handled it - overlook one bigger problem - Most corporations, government agencies have "Policies" that limit solutions rather than allow 'real humans' to creatively troubleshoot problems that only a human with common sense can.

While I understand cost/risks can be a concern, policies force 'intelligent' humans to behave like a predictable Automaton. Human are not Rule-based-Systems and it pains me when someone in my own company IT Compliance/ Audit/HR throw such idiotic rules around for us to follow. Unwitting violation of the "POLICY" even when it helps the organization, is met with disproportionate response and you are made to feel like a criminal/idiot. (If you are human reading this , then you can tell that I am speaking from experience).

Policies are important - but there should be room for creative action that allows for humans to operate within its confines. Else we just need robots. And increasingly, I feel corporations value Automatons/Robots over humans. They value predictability over creativity.

[global1]

1. Customer Service - 2017 Style.....nt

[randome]

2. Part of the problem with policies is that there are too many people involved.

So they tend to be written for the lowest common denominator and to apply for every conceivable situation. This is to be a protective 'blanket' against those who want to game the system for their own benefit.

It's a cultural evolution thing, I think, and I wish it was different.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A 90% chance of rain means the same as a 10% chance:
It might rain and it might not.[/center][/font][hr]

[rock]

3. You are quite correct

This is a very common problem in many walks of life: having the solution in hand before knowing what the problem is. Policies tend to establish what the general solution is while not having the problem specified. Welcome to DU.

[Lars39]

4. United could have had permanent seats reserved for their employees but have chosen not to do so.

Bad for the employees, bad for the customers.

[athena]

5. Excellent point.

When you take away decision-making authority from someone, they no longer feel they are responsible for the consequences of their actions. As demonstrated by the Milgram experiment, this is how humans can be made to commit horrible atrocities. One person gives an order, another one passes it on, another one follows it mindlessly, and no one thinks s/he is to blame for the committing of the crime, since no one is 100% responsible.

[Phentex]

6. exactly...

too easy for someone say "well, that's just our policy"

I had this happen to me when I was dealing with my credit union. No one could explain to me the legal reason or otherwise why they had a certain policy. The first person said it was policy. The second one passed me to someone else and so on until the supposed supervisor said it was just their new policy. NO REASON or explanation whatsoever.

Even if the reason had been for legal purposes, stupid or outdated or whatever, at least there would have been an explanation.

[Hugin]

7. Well, yes... Let's hope the newly formed "Dr. Dao Airlines" has a superior customer service scheme.

And that Oscar Munoz enjoys his new position as baggage handler... If the Union will have him. :not-sarcasm: