Did You Pray For The Destruction Of The Airline Industry During Palm Sunday Mass? United Airlines Tumbles After Social-Media Storm Goes Global

United Continental Holdings Inc. fell as outrage on social media over a passenger’s forcible removal from a flight spread across the globe. The stock dropped 3.3 percent to $69.17 at 9:46 a.m. Tuesday in New York, marking the biggest decline on a Bloomberg index of U.S. airlines. Officers pulled a passenger from a flight Sunday evening after he refused to give up his seat, dragging him down the aisle as travelers yelled at them to stop. Recordings of the incident posted on social media sent people into a rage. By Tuesday in China, the incident was a focus of social media and government editorial. The hashtag #UnitedForcesPassengerOffPlane was the top trending item on Sina Weibo, the equivalent of Twitter, with more than 270 million views. The man who was removed appeared to be of Asian descent. The incident demonstrates how airline bumping can veer into confrontation. Carriers around the world routinely oversell their flights because people don’t always appear for a flight. Overselling is a way to cover that situation while maximizing the airline’s revenue. Bloomberg>>>>>>>