美国国家公共电台 NPR Passenger Forcibly Removed From United Flight, Prompting Outcry

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Passengers on a United Airlines flight out of Chicago were treated to a jarring sight yesterday. Security officers forcibly removed a man from a plane who refused to leave an overbooked flight. Fellow fliers captured the scene on video.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Screaming).

CORNISH: NPR's Camila Domonoske has been writing about this story for our website. She joins us now. Welcome to the studio, Camila.

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE¹: Thanks. Hi, Audie.

CORNISH: All right, so in this video, we see some men surrounding a particular passenger. They kind of work him out of his seat to the point where he ends up on the ground and then looks like he's being dragged off the plane. How did it get to that point?

DOMONOSKE: So according to other passengers on the flight, everyone had already boarded this plane, and they were in their seats ready to go when United asked for volunteers to give up their seats. They said they had four crew members who had to get to Louisville for another flight. So they offered a certain amount of money. They didn't get any takers. They upped the amount of money. They were offering $800 and a hotel room, and there weren't volunteers.

So at that point, again, according to passengers on the plane, United said they picked four people at random² and that those people would have to get off the plane. One of those people was the man in the video who said he was a doctor, that he had patients to see and that he couldn't leave, and he didn't want to go. And at that point, United called security, and that prompted the violent interaction that was captured in those videos.

CORNISH: Right, and we have heard from O'Hare Airport security and United in response to this controversy³. What did they have to say?

DOMONOSKE: So United's CEO said this was an upsetting incident. He said United had opened a review into it, was reaching out to the passenger in question. He also said, quote, "I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers."

Meanwhile, the folks who run O'Hare's security said that the incident was not in accordance with their protocol⁴ and that one security officer is suspended, has been put on leave while they also open an investigation⁵.

CORNISH: Meanwhile, for the rest of us who may have this question now, what protections do consumers have when a flight is overbooked?

DOMONOSKE: So it is possible - it's perfectly⁶ legal for airlines to boot you off a flight, for you to be bumped. The fact that you have a ticket actually doesn't guarantee you a right to be on a plane. So airlines, to increase their profits, routinely sell more tickets than they actually have seats, and people then have tickets and aren't allowed to board. Of course the legality of being able to bump somebody from a flight is a different thing from the method of how this man was removed from the flight, which I think people are upset about both of those in this case.

CORNISH: Meanwhile, this is the second time in a couple of weeks that United has taken a public relations hit. The first time was when they denied two teenagers a seat because of how they were dressed - the great kind of leggings incident of 2017 (laughter) - any lessons to draw from this?

DOMONOSKE: You know, what was really striking about both of these incidents was how bad United's initial response on social media was. After this leggings incident, these teenage girls being denied permission to board because they were wearing leggings, the first response that came from an official United outlet⁷ was that they're allowed to deny passengers travel based on inappropriate clothing, which obviously wasn't answering people's problems, people's deep issues with that incident.

They later had a more thorough explanation, but it was hours. And by that point, the story had gone viral. Here too, the first response from United was to say that a customer was refusing to leave his seat and not responding whatsoever⁸ to the violence in the videos that obviously has fueled the outrage⁹ and led to some people to call for a boycott¹⁰ of the airline.

CORNISH: That's NPR's Camila Domonoske. Thank you so much.

DOMONOSKE: Thanks, Audie.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

3 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

4 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

8 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

9 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

10 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。