United pilots union is "infuriated" about the passenger's treatment

[pnwmom]

and doing their best to distance themselves from the actions of Republic Airline (the airline UA subcontracted to) and the aviation police.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/infuriated-united-pilots-union-slams-222221180.html;_ylc=X1MDMTE5Nzc4NDE4NQRfZXgDMQRfeXJpZANjMG83OG05Y2YwMTZkBGcDZFhWcFpEeHVjejQzTldKa05qTTJNaTFrWVdObExUTmtOR0l0T1RneE9DMDBaVEJtWkdGaU5ESXpOVEk4Wm1sbGJHUStkV0ZzBGxhbmcDZW4tVVMEb3JpZ19sYW5nA2VuBG9yaWdfcmVnaW9uA1VTBHBvcwMxBHJlZ2lvbgNVUwRzeW1ib2wDVUFM?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb

"The safety and well-being of our passengers is the highest priority for United pilots, and this should not have escalated into a violent encounter," United Master Executive Council, the union representing the airline's 12,500 pilots, wrote in a letter.

"United pilots are infuriated by this event."

At the same time, the pilots sought to clarify their view of the situation.

"This occurred on one of our contracted Express carriers, separately owned and operated by Republic Airline, and was ultimately caused by the grossly inappropriate response by the Chicago Department of Aviation," the pilots wrote.

Major US airlines — including American, Delta, and United — subcontract some of their flights to regional carriers under sub-brands such as American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express. Tickets on these flights are sold by the mainline carrier, but are crewed exclusively by the regional airline.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Helpful distinction....but:

United had its name all over the flight, thus all over the news.
Plus United management made several public comments...as in for public consumption comments,
using its name of United.
They can decide how to handle their contractor...or contractee..whatever it is.
Perhaps by billing or suing the regional carrier for what is sure to be a HUGE cost to United.

[pnwmom]

2. Yes. UA is responsible for the actions of its subcontractors. n/t

[Major Nikon]

3. Not universally

They may or may not be financially liable due to financial arrangements between the two entities, but they operate under different air carrier certificates which means the feds regulate them independently. So while they could be jointly named in a lawsuit, the FAA would have to initiate separate enforcement actions against them if it came to that.

[pnwmom]

5. UA would share responsibility in a lawsuit, and that will matter more than any FAA action

in this case.

[Major Nikon]

6. UA has already lost 10 figures to the bad PR, with more coming

So that fact alone already matters more than any potential losses to any potential lawsuit even if you consider the worst case scenario. FAA enforcement sanctions can include all the way up to revocation of their operating certificate, which could potentially matter far more as that would put them out of business entirely.

[AngryAmish]

4. I got slammed and called a Russian spy for pointing this out last week.

United Express is a company owned by UAL, which is a holding company. UAL is also the owner of United Airlines. UAL owns the trademarks for United Express, which is a consortium of 9 airlines of which United is one. United may or may not own the reservation system.

UAL CEO is CEO of both United Airlines and United Express. He is not CEO of Republic. He apologized for this for some reason, probably for damage control since this tarnished the United Express name.

Again, Republic is not a contractor. They lease a trademark. They are not agents for United Airlines. They may or may not be agents for United Express or UAL.