How United selects passengers for involuntary bumping
By The Associated Press, Associated Press
Apr 27, 2017 12:14 AM CDT
FILE - This Jan. 26, 2016, file photo, shows economy class seating on a new United Airlines Boeing 787-9 undergoing final configuration and maintenance work at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. United Airlines says it will raise the limit to $10,000 on payments to customers who give up...   (Associated Press)

In a report being issued Thursday about the April 9 dragging incident involving a passenger on an overcrowded United Express plane, United spelled out how it selects passengers for involuntary bumping.

United says the process is automated — gate agents don't decide who stays and who goes.

—First, anyone without a seat assignment is denied boarding.

—Passengers who paid the least for their ticket top the list for being bumped involuntarily.

—Passengers who paid the same fare are sorted by when they checked in for the flight.

—Customers with status in United's MileagePlus frequent-flyer program won't be bumped unless everyone on the plane has status, in which case the people with the lowest status get bumped first.

—Unaccompanied minors and passengers with disabilities won't be bumped.

Source: Company's "United Express Flight 3411 Review and Action Report"