I have never seen an airlines randomly pick a passenger who is not from the departing city. Forcing this guy to stay over night in Chicago at a layover on his return from LA to Tennessee is ridiculous and not part of any protocol I've ever seen. You? The airlines prefer that you go home and sleep in your own bed if possible.If their goal was to avoid a stink, this wouldn't have happened. Unless it's proven otherwise, I believe the initial choice was done quickly and by protocol. They don't have time to waste on thinking. I don't believe anyone at United did some sort of profiling analysis and specifically chose him. It just happened. Failure to bend protocol, to adapt to a 'situation' and do what's right, is what happened next.
PS - then there is the question of the now-stranded passenger's checked baggage (if any), and rules that passengers are to be in the same plane as their own baggage for security reasons. How did United handle that?
