There’s a big disagreement between Chicago Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans and the union representing Chicago Aviation Police.
Chicago Aviation Police responded to United’s call and dragged Dr. David Dao off an aircraft last month, bloodying him in the process.
Three officers and a supervisor were placed on leave after the incident, although no determination has been made yet whether any of them will face discipline. United’s settlement with Dr. Dao prevents him from suing the city. The only person that’s been fired is the official overseeing Chicago’s aviation police, and that after his questionable service in city government was revealed.
Evans describes the Chicago Aviation Police as more or less rent a cops,
“They are nonsworn, nonarmed security personnel,” Evans told senators, adding that their job is to check badges of airport personnel entering secure areas and maintain a secure perimeter.
Meanwhile there union protests:
The Service Employees International Union Local 73 has noted that aviation officers are certified police officers, even if they don’t carry guns while on duty. Last week, the union filed an unfair labor complaint with the Illinois Labor Relations Board, accusing the city of moving “to strip the aviation officers of their authority as special police officers.”
…”The Chicago Department of Aviation has failed to recognize that their own policies and state law grant aviation officers full police powers..
Tunnel Connecting United’s B and C concourses at Chicago O’HareThe reason this matters is because the Aviation Commissioner says that:
- Policy is “force should only be used when absolutely necessary to protect the security and safety of our passengers”
- Chicago Aviation Police violated this policy (early the city refused to comment on whether the incident onboard United was a safety matter, had Dao been suing the city no doubt their position on this would have changed)
- Chicago Police – not Aviation Police – will respond when called in the future.
Evans also told senators in a statement that a new department directive changes airport dispatching procedures to ensure Chicago Police Department officers, not aviation police, will be “the lead responders for disturbances onboard aircraft.”
This doesn’t make me feel better. Though United says they’ll only call the cops when safety is at risk, they still haven’t told us what situations fall into the safety bucket and which ones they consider customer service issues. The police similarly do not disclose this distinction.
And now when United (or other airlines) call police at Chicago O’Hare airport, it’s Chicago PD that will respond. They carry guns, while the Aviation Police do not.
presumably tasers too.
Without guns and tasers, Dr. Dao won an estimated settlement of 140 million USD, how much will the next victims make if they’re threatened at gunpoint or even shot? Let’s wait and see~
Maybe airlines will learn not to board people until they got their seating all figured out. This nonsense should never be happening once people are already at their seats.
Cool. The first public execution of a passenger that does not lick the boot straps of a grumpy FA is coming to an airplane near you!! Maybe some macho man can blow the brains out of some kids’ parent in front of him. And it will all be on You Tube. Fuck all the US legacy airlines and their crappy products and attitudes.
Well put Bill
What is the only think worse than Rent-A-Cops? That’s right, SEIU Union Rent-A-Cops. There is a reason they aren’t FOP cops.
Gene, what is the reliable source for your $140 million? The settlement was confidential. If even remotely true, United management has fudiciary duty to disclose a settlement of that size to shareowners in the near future. You could be off by $135 million.
Maybe airlines should not board people until they have their act figured out. Why did airlines turn from class acts to clown acts? The buck stops at the CEO’s desk – time for the heads to roll!
Bill says:
May 5, 2017 at 5:58 pm
Maybe airlines will learn not to board people until they got their seating all figured out. This nonsense should never be happening once people are already at their seats.
Oh good. Now instead of poorly-trained overwrought security guards with a sordid history and a violence-first culture, we’ll get Chicago Police Department.
What could possibly go wrong?
If Aviation Police are unsworn personnel, the question becomes, “Did they have arrest authority?” If they did not have authorization to arrest someone, any use of bodily force is a battery — a criminal offense, and a willful tort on Dr. Dao, which would have given rise to punitive damages.
Even if CPD officers are dispatched in the future, the question remains concerning how they are trained. A person discharging a weapon within an aircraft risks putting a nasty hole through the airframe, even if the bullet hits no one. And, if the bullet hits someone, a through-and-through risks hitting multiple people in addition to the intended target.
Hopefully, the people dispatched anywhere will have the special training needed.
If I buy a ticket I expect to get where I’m going not pulled off an left , be professional, quit acting like gods,run a business,
Guess we should start packing duct tape in our carry-ons to help patch those inevitable bullet holes in the fuselage…
So are they police or not? Is the union right or not? He said she said?
Can any corporate lawyer reading this list tell us what the law requires of United if a registered stockholder of United makes a formal written request to be told the amount of the Dao settlement. Is there effectively a corporate Freedom of Information Act?