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United Airlines Linked Dramatically with Police Brutality

I’m sure by now most of you have watched the video of a doctor being dragged off an “overbooked” United Airlines (NYSE: UAL) flight in Chicago by police.

It reminded me of the scene in the 1980 comedy movie “Airplane!” in which virtually everyone lines up during the flight to slap a passenger. Except that this April 9 incident on United was no comedy.

It turns out that the flight wasn’t even overbooked. Four passengers were removed because four United flight attendants needed to get on board to travel for work assignments the next morning.

But the medical doctor also needed to work the next morning, and he explained that fact before he was dragged off the plane. Instead of allowing the physician to remain and treating him with respect, he was booted off the flight by force.

Ever since September 11 in 2001, airport security has undergone substantial tightening, even bordering on a violation of privacy at times, while the airlines themselves have become overbearing in their attitude toward customers. This attitude can flare up especially when flights are full, since these days airlines have consolidated and caught on to marginal pricing as a way to fill their planes to capacity.

The situation has declined to the point that the airlines now violate their own rules, and this was apparently was the case with United Airlines in Chicago a few days ago. Gate agents failed to catch the error and should have taken care of the matter before everyone got on the flight with the expectation of flying. The ideal solution, I think, would have been to have offered more lucrative travel vouchers until enough passengers were willing to delay their flight to allow the United attendants to take their place, A bloody, physical confrontation between police and the physician or any other paying passenger should have been avoided at all costs..

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In any case, the police need to be more understanding of both customer needs and airline policies. They shouldn’t be complicit in United Airlines’ misdeeds.

It is time for everyone’s rights to be spelled out directly by the airlines to prevent a similar travesty from happening again.

Mark Skousen

Mark Skousen, Ph. D., is a professional economist, investment expert, university professor, and author of more than 25 books. He earned his Ph. D. in monetary economics at George Washington University in 1977. He has taught economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Grantham University, Barnard College, Mercy College, Rollins College, and is a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He also has been a consultant to IBM, Hutchinson Technology, and other Fortune 500 companies. Since 1980, Skousen has been editor in chief of Forecasts & Strategies, a popular award-winning investment newsletter. He also is editor of four trading services, Skousen TNT Trader, Skousen Five Star Trader, Skousen Low-Priced Stock Trader, and Skousen Fast Money Alert. He is a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, a columnist to Forbes magazine (1997-2001), and past president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in New York. He has written articles for The Wall Street Journal, Liberty, Reason, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Christian Science Monitor, and The Journal of Economic Perspectives. He has appeared on ABC News, CNBC Power Lunch, CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN Book TV. In 2008-09, he was a regular contributor to Larry Kudlow & Co. on CNBC. His economic bestsellers include “Economics on Trial” (Irwin, 1991), “Puzzles and Paradoxes on Economics” (Edward Elgar, 1997), “The Making of Modern Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2001, 2009), “The Big Three in Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2007), “EconoPower” (Wiley, 2008), and “Economic Logic” (2000, 2010). In 2009, “The Making of Modern Economics” won the Choice Book Award for Outstanding Academic Title. His financial bestsellers include “The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy” (Simon & Schuster, 1983), “High Finance on a Low Budget” (Bantam, 1981), co-authored with his wife Jo Ann, “Scrooge Investing” (Little Brown, 1995; McGraw Hill, 1999), and “Investing in One Lesson” (Regnery, 2007). In honor of his work in economics, finance, and management, Grantham University renamed its business school “The Mark Skousen School of Business.” Dr. Skousen has lived in eight nations, and has traveled and lectured throughout the United States and 70 countries. He grew up in Portland, Ore. He and his wife, Jo Ann, and five children have lived in Washington, D.C.; Nassau, the Bahamas; London, England; Orlando, Fla.; and New York. For more information about Mark’s services, go to http://www.markskousen.com/