Behind United Airlines’ Fateful Decision to Call Police
Airline’s rules-based culture in spotlight after man was dragged off flight by law enforcement
.. Deviating from the rules is frowned upon; employees can face termination for a foul-up, according to people familiar with the matter... At United, this has helped create a rules-based culture where its 85,000 employees are reluctant to make choices not in the “book,”.. At least some decisions that led to the crisis were fueled by employees following rules.. Last Sunday evening, Republic Airways Holdings Inc., the regional airline operating the flight for United, asked an hour before departure for four of its crew members to take the place of passengers, according to a person familiar with the matter. The crew was needed the next day at the flight’s destination in Louisville, Ky., the person said.. But the two pilots and two flight attendants didn’t arrive at the gate until a few minutes before departure, according to United’s pilots union. All the passengers were already seated... In hindsight, the gate agent should have said, “Folks, we’re not leaving until someone gets off. If someone doesn’t take the $800, we’re going to cancel the flight,” said the United pilot, who wasn’t involved in the incident.
.. People close to United said the rules-based calculus is to inconvenience the fewest number of fliers... United hasn’t provided its front-line managers and supervisors with “the proper tools, policies, procedures that allow them to use their common sense.”“That’s on me,“ he said. ”I have to fix that... Decades-old union conventions that enshrine seniority over performance are part of the problem, one former executive said, because employees are rewarded for their tenure rather than their talent.
.. Mr. Munoz also said United will change its former policy of asking law enforcement officers to remove passengers from its flights—unless it is a matter of safety and security... But Mr. Milton added that Dr. Dao’s mistreatment and United’s flat-footed reaction must become “a defining moment in the history of United Airlines pivoting to customer service and customer delivery.”