You may not like it (and I don't either), but overselling flights is not fraud; it's a normal, accepted, legal practice.
If he had followed the rules and done what he was -- legally -- told to do, he wouldn't have to have become a "victim". That doesn't justify what security did to him, but he's the one who started the escalation.
Telling a paying passenger who is not behaving belligerently in any way that they must vacate their seat so that an airline staff member can fly in that seat is what starts the escalation.
That’s not escalation, it’s them asserting their property rights. They will receive monetary punishment from the FAA if they don’t pay the required compensation but you have no right as a passenger to refuse to leave a seat.
No, they say that I am right. “Generally, no” is not “no”. You’ll notice that statement has no teeth or specifics. That entire guideline was added in reaction to this particular event and the general populist stupidity that resulted.
> Generally, no. If you have met the following conditions, airlines are not allowed to deny you permission to board, or remove you from the flight if you have already boarded the flight:
You have checked-in for your flight before the check-in deadline set by the airlines; and
A gate agent has accepted your paper boarding pass or electronically scanned your boarding pass and let you know that you may proceed to board
That is pretty clear, so you can stop making up stuff for the sake of an invalid argument.
You may not like it (and I don't either), but overselling flights is not fraud; it's a normal, accepted, legal practice.
If he had followed the rules and done what he was -- legally -- told to do, he wouldn't have to have become a "victim". That doesn't justify what security did to him, but he's the one who started the escalation.