Yes, and they said they were changing the cutoff time for allowing those crew bumps, so they learned a hard lesson. Over my years of flying I’ve seen cabin requests for passengers to deplane for compensation. But you’re right, fortunately it’s not industry standard practice.

I don’t know the numbers but United does and they chose to use a system of boarding everyone and then “negotiating”. I have to assume they’ve figured out that check-ins are not reliable enough to maximize the number of full seats. Also, as I understand it in that specific case there was a late decision to allow some…

As I said, and you have not refuted, there is currently no system that guarantees who will board the plane without actually boarding the plane. Could there be? Possibly. But that’s not what we have now. Some airlines obviously aren’t satisfied relying only on check-ins to determine who will board and who won’t.…

Anyone can check in online 24 hours before boarding. There’s no current mechanism for the airlines to know who will physically board the plane without actually boarding them. My first thought after the Dr. Dao incident was they should never let a bumped passenger board, but then I realized there’s no perfect way to…

They need to find an adjacent spot where this light graffiti can be continuously displayed. It’s an amazingly brilliant idea.

I’ve flown a lot. I’ve never witnessed any mechanism the airlines could use to know who is physically present to board without actually boarding them. What you describe doesn’t solve that basic problem. Enticing people to leave voluntarily is the only reasonable option under the current system, which is exactly…

The point is the profit motive is limiting and corrupting. Just look at what the news media has become under market forces. Allowing full freedom from profit concerns allows highly informative and valuable content and perspectives that would otherwise never be produced.

I agree that his case would have very likely played out differently if he hadn’t been allowed to board in the first place, but if overbooking is legal how can the airline know for certain who is physically present to board without actually boarding everyone?

I can’t imagine anyone liking him. Seriously. How could a sane person actually like an abusive, totally narcissistic, ignoramus? You’d have to strangle your soul just to get anywhere near him out of lust for power and greed. That’s probably often the case, Bush/Cheney for example, but this is so much worse.

every word is picked apart to try to figure out how to make SENSE out of it

Why not? Because the more the administration talks the more trouble they create for themselves. Watching them hopelessly paralyzed trying to untangle the mess they create each day is amazing political theater, albeit nauseating. The more the guilty guy talks the higher the chances of a conviction. Not that Trumpty…

Disagree. I think it reflects how combative and unnecessarily antagonistic our culture has become across the board, from airline passengers to the top levels of government. It’s the new reality that’s permeating our culture and society.

A lot of us travel outside the US and do actually need to get home as well. So a lot of people really do care. Having to deal with checked baggage is not trivial. I wish I had more confidence that this is actually necessary and effective.

You’re making a lot of assumptions and assertions I disagree with. As I stated I did not have a personal finance class in high school or college. I wish I had, as it took me a long time to figure out what I eventually learned on my own. I stand by my suggestion that a high school class would be valuable. I’m not…

Looks like a very strong case to me. We can only hope this shuts him up.

I didn’t say “proper”. Where would families get that knowledge? I also don’t think families should teach sex ed, or drivers ed, or science. Are you referring to something like religious beliefs about acceptable financial practices? Which of the points in the article above do you consider require making moral…

I really don’t understand why we don’t require a basic financial management course in high school. So far I’ve never gotten a dollar with instructions on it. I had to take drivers ed, why not money ed? Maybe like some other areas of education there are forces that prefer us to be ignorant. The easier to herd and…

Thanks for the link. Those facts and that perspective deserve much more publicity. The truly sad fact is we don’t have anyone on the national stage, in the media or in politics, presenting this information in a way we all understand that these are the choices we’ve made, and that we can make different, better…

The Trump move. When they ask you a question that’s too hard end the interview and walk out. Better to be thought a scoundrel and a charlatan than to answer and remove all doubt.

Index funds. Read John Bogle and follow his advice. Warren Buffett told his wife to invest in index funds. Listening to money managers trying to justify their fees and expensive funds is like listening to the GOP rationalizing health care with less coverage, higher cost, and tax breaks for the rich.