As members of the so-called “rationality community” like to say, the plural of anecdote is not evidence. (In 2016, for example, United Airlines denied boarding to only 3,765 of its more than 86 million passengers on overbooked flights, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.) But it looks like they are wrong, at least if consumers stop flying on United after their recent public relations disasters. First, United kicked off some little girls from a flight for wearing leggings. Now, United has forcibly removed an elderly paying passenger from his seat to make room for STAFF! (Maybe United needs to rebrand: Greyhound Air.)

Legal memo to United: “possession is nine-tenths of the law.”