Boy it’s tough to fly these days. From airlines squeezing passengers into smaller and smaller seats, charging for checked bags and overbooking flights, it’s no wonder the friendly skies are becoming more and more tense.

By now, I’m sure you along with the entire world has seen the video of a United Airlines passenger being forcibly removed from a flight from Chicago to Louisville. The video, which includes audio of the man screaming while being lugged down the aisle, is difficult to watch, but does not tell the whole story.

United was trying to make room for a flight crew to get to Louisville. An announcement was made that they needed four passengers to give up their seats which were already taken. When no one volunteered, three passengers were asked to get off with little fan-fare (although I’m sure they were not happy) and no video to post on social media. David Dao, the fourth passenger, refused to give up his seat, resulting in Chicago airport police dragging him down the aisle.

The problem? The airline was actually in their rights to ask the passenger to get off the plane. In the fine print (that nobody ever bothers read) it basically gives the airline the right to remove anyone for any reason. Each airline has their own policy on how a person is to be reimbursed, but make no mistake, United Airlines was in their rights to do what they did.

Now you can argue that isn’t fair and that United Airlines totally mishandled the entire incident (and you would be correct), but what about the actions taking by Mr. Dao? A law officer made a request which he chose to ignore. Does that mean other passengers in the future can disregard a request/command from a law officer? I’m not sure I’m comfortable going down that pathway either.

United Airlines was in the wrong, but so was Mr. Dao. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but maybe, just maybe it will generate a discussion on passenger rights for future travelers.