Like the entire country, I’ve been riveted to and horrified by the story of Dr. David Dao being assaulted and dragged off a United Airlines flight between O’Hare and Louisville for the grievous offense of being unwilling to give up his seat on an overbooked United flight.

Today we learned that Dr. Dao has a broken nose, a significant concussion, a sinus infection, and lost two front teeth all because he was forcefully dragged from Sunday’s flight. This is unacceptable, yet it seems a bit inevitable in today’s world of Official Company Policies™ that must be followed at all costs – common sense be damned.

What makes it worse (I didn’t think this situation could get worse) is that it appears to not be an isolated incident. The Chicago Tribune’s David Lazarus has written two columns this week about four similar situations: United passenger threatened with handcuffs to make room for ‘higher priority’ traveler and How a family almost got bumped out of first-class for United’s CEO.

I haven’t flown United in a number of years because I have found Southwest a far better experience. With no luggage fees, no change fees, flight attendants, pilots, and staff who don’t take themselves too seriously, great customer service, and good on-time performance, why would I fly another airline?

In the 1990s, however, I flew United regularly between Washington, D.C. and Chicago because of hourly flights and $100 roundtrip fares. Back then United had very friendly skies. I could fly out on Friday after work and return Monday morning, without ever missing a moment of work. The new United terminal had opened at O’Hare in the late 1980s with the beautiful underground walkway; terminals were clean; I seem to recall free non-alcoholic beverages (e.g., coffee, soda, water, juice) at some of the gates which made those early morning flights much more tolerable; and the flights were rarely overbooked, so the middle seat was usually empty making everyone just a little more comfortable.

I loved flying United especially after my personal experience with their friendly and compassionate skies in 1997.

From my 2009 sharing of the story on my original Little Merry Sunshine blog:

When [my Grandma Gardner] passed away [in May 1997], I was living in Washington DC and her memorial service was being held in Chicago. Because she was cremated, the service was planned for a Saturday when everyone in the family could be there ten days after her death. This was wonderful because the family was spread all over the country and it meant we could all save a few bucks on airfare.

The ten days between Grandma’s death on May 1st and her memorial service on May 11th were very difficult for me at work. We were preparing to file a Summary Judgment brief in a case in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on May 10th and had been working insane hours – 14-16 hour days. I had been working 7 days a week for weeks, but this particular week I spent nights at the firm and didn’t sleep at all and ate even less.

By the time we filed the brief late that Friday afternoon, I was a physical and emotional wreck and I still had to drive home, do laundry, pack, eat, get to sleep, and be at the airport in time for my 6:30 flight to Chicago. If everything went smoothly, I’d arrive in Chicago about 8:00, have enough time to have breakfast with my dad, and we’d be at the church in plenty of time for the 10:00 service.

By the grace of God, I arrived at Washington National Airport on time, but it didn’t matter. We boarded the plane and about 20 minutes after we were scheduled to depart, our flight was canceled due to mechanical problems. Knowing I had to be on a plane to Chicago, I called United’s customer service on my cell phone and they put me on the 8am flight, which was a full flight and scheduled to arrive at O’Hare at 9:30. The only problem was that I couldn’t reach my dad to let him know he didn’t need to pick me up and he should just go straight to the church. Then I called my uncles and the church and begged them not to start without me. I also managed to reach my mom who said she’d be waiting for me at 9:30 to rush me to the church. The church in Glencoe was exactly 30 minutes from O’Hare.

I got my boarding pass and discovered I was in the last row of the plane. Sitting down in the last row, I took a deep breath and suddenly all the emotions and exhaustion I’d bottled up for two weeks came rushing out as tears running down my face. My sobbing was completely uncontrollable and involuntary. Given the size of the plane, I knew that it would take 30 minutes just to get off and I’d never make it to the memorial service on time.

In spite of my best efforts to conceal my sobs, a few minutes later a flight attendant arrived. She asked what was wrong and although I tried to assure her that I was fine, I did manage to explain my situation. Without a word she left, only to reappear again and asked me to collect my things because someone in first class had offered to give me his or her seat so I would have a chance of getting to the church on time.

Now I’d flown first class a couple of summers before, but nothing will ever compare to this experience in first class. For the first time in weeks, I ate a real meal with real dishes and silverware, as opposed to take-out food with plastic silverware. I slept and woke up in Chicago refreshed and calm, two emotions I barely remembered. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was the best food and best sleep I’ve ever experienced.

A few things stand out to me here:

1. I had a full blown emotional meltdown on the plane. In no particular order, I was grieving the death of my grandmother, lacking any real nutritious food in my body, completely over exhausted, afraid my dad would be mad at me for not being on the original flight (in fact, he was furious because he thought I’d overslept and missed my flight), worried I’d let my family down by being late to my grandmother’s funeral, and worried the funeral would be over before I arrived and I wouldn’t get to say goodbye to my grandmother. I’m certain my emotions that day were worsened due to my undiagnosed anxiety.
2. There were 100s of people waiting to get on a flight from DC to Chicago, all of whom would have been happy to sit in my middle seat of the last row of the plane. They probably would not have suffered an emotional meltdown.
3. No one assumed I was emotionally unstable, crazy, or purposely attempting to disrupt the flight.
4. I was treated with dignity and respect. The flight attendant showed compassion when she asked me what was wrong. She listened and then took it upon herself to see if she could make the situation better.
5. Another passenger selflessly gave up a first-class seat he or she had presumably paid a considerable amount of money for. S/He may have been compensated, but s/he may not have been. I’ve always believed in my heart that the first-class passenger did it out of the kindness of his or her heart.
6. The flight attendant wasn’t gone long enough to check United’s Official Company Policy™ for dealing with an hysterical passenger. She simply did the right thing.

In today’s world, I imagine no one would care why I was so upset. I would just be removed from the plane with no guarantee of being allowed to board a later flight. I would be labeled a troublemaker, crazy, unstable, and it would be assumed I had some sort of nefarious intent.

The difference between 1997 and today seems to be that United employees no longer have the ability to look at each situation individually and compassionately make the best decisions for all involved. They are required to strictly adhere to United’s Official Company Policy™ and unable to think for themselves to do what’s right.

The fact is that the right thing is not always the same as Official Company Policy™, and United’s culture has obviously become one of following the Official Company Policy™ without question. When companies hire good people, they need to empower and trust them to make decisions that are in everyone’s best interest, taking all circumstances into account, rather than simply relying on a black and white Official Company Policy™. In my opinion, employees who have that freedom are happier, more engaged, and provide far better customer service than employees whose only response is “I’m following the Official Company Policy™.” And good customer service creates happy customers who are more likely to return in the future. It’s not rocket science.

It’s been 20 years since my two hour flight to my grandmother’s funeral. I don’t remember too much about the rest of that day, but I still recall the generosity, compassion, and kindness of everyone affiliated with United Airlines. And I’ve proudly shared my story not once on my blog, but twice, in addition to the countless times I’ve told the story orally.

2017 United Airlines needs to take a lesson from its 1997 self.

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