说一说美联航事件
在我们买下机票的时候，就默认同意了航空公司的各项政策。我们不会仔细去看这些fine prints，但是它是存在的有效的。首先Overbook，超额售票，是航空业内的通行做法。美国全国平均每天都有上千次这种情况，没毛病。
如果发现存在overbook的情况，航空公司一般会在登机之前就会告知乘客。提出补偿方案寻求志愿者，但如果没有志愿者出现的话，航空公司有权bump fliers involuntarily。根据Department of Transportation的数据，2015年有46000名乘客被“飞机”。
bump在这里的意思是：to tell someone who has bought a ticket for a plane seat that they cannot fly because the airline has sold too many tickets
但是United Airlines这次的情况有点特别，它不是overbook。而是在乘客登机后被告知有4名员工需要前往Louisville，以便进行第二天的公司，于是要找4名乘客“让座”。都已经登机了，而且已经晚点了很长时间，大家就不愿意折腾了，航空公司这边操作起来比较困难。有过40多年航空行业经验的George Hobica说：The burning question is why did they wait until everyone was seated before realizing they needed to move employees?”
不过这个问题也不大，UA的Contract of Carriage中Rule 25第二条中写着:
If a flight is Oversold, no one may be denied boarding against his/her will until UA or other carrier personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservations willingly in exchange for compensation as determined by UA.
这趟航班的价格是196美元，UA先是提出补偿400美元，无人接受；继而把补偿提高到800美元加宾馆住宿，只有2名乘客接受了下了飞机。UA于是“随机”找了两名乘客，条约上也有参考：
条约上用了“may be”，这个狡猾的字眼意味着上了它的飞机，那就得听它的了。你可以怀疑他因为自己是华人所以才被选中，但是这个很难被证明。乘客依然不下飞机，于是就有了我们看到的强制执行的做法。加上乘客的年龄、晕倒、出血，有人录像，使得一件小事变成了大事。CEO用“re-accomodate”来描述乘客被强制拖下飞机的事实，显得轻描淡写没有人情味，更是火上浇油。
除了用这种方式强制让乘客下飞机外有没有别的办法？The Economist评论说这种情况下唯一正确的做法是继续提高补偿，等愿者上钩：
In such circumstances there should be only one correct course of action: to pay fair compensation to any volunteers willing to rebook onto a later service. And what counts as fair? Let the market decide. If flyers are not tempted by a carrier’s first offer, keep raising it until someone bites. If that price is many times the cost of the original ticket, so be it.
Hobica也是同样的观点，说得很实在：
United could have easily avoided this historically bad public relations disaster had they increased the bumping compensation offer, either before boarding or once boarded.
Whatever it cost — $1,000, $2,000, $3,000 — would have been far cheaper than the cost to its reputation and the loss of business. You can be sure that passengers, at least this week, will choose any other airline to get where they’re going.
这个时候，能用钱解决的问题就不是问题。最后闹得公关失败，被全球嘲讽真是得不偿失。The Economist最后说：
The facts about Flight 3411 will continue to emerge but, not for the first time, a carrier will be left wondering whether its stinginess covered the cost of the bad publicity and ill-feeling its actions have generated.
晚点、超额售票、航空管制等情况会恼的人心烦意乱，机场的工作人员每天也都在处理各种突发事件脑袋里可能也绷着根弦，所以还是句没趣的老话，互相理解吧，寻找最佳的解决方案。尤其是商家，别一根筋啊，试试，不用蛮力，把人当人。