Although I am now happily flying a privately owned jet, I do recall from my previous life what it was like flying for a scheduled carrier. Frankly, some of the responses here leaves me wondering if some pilots still live under the illusion that airlines are existing purely for the benefit of those pilots. Well, they do not and will not if they wish to return a profit to the owners.
The first rule of our job is to ensure the safe, secure, comfortable and timely transportation of passengers and freight from a to b. Do try to remember this, it should be rather easy to do.
Since none of us really know what happened onboard that Premiair flight, neither of us can really judge whether the captain took the right decision. However, since a law suit is boiling it would be safe to assume that he got it wrong somewhere. In my opinion, every mistake you overtly make should be made accountable. Just like in any other job, really. So if the captain did off-load the passengers for no valid reason, he has overstepped his area of responsibility and is thus eligble for punishment. And before you start throwing legalites at me, do keep in mind that above all we have a commitment to the passengers and the company we work for.
I am not saying that a captain has no right to decide who goes and who don't, but some kind of framework must have been laid down in the procedures. It's just that the age when a captain could do whatever he pleased is long gone, and all for the better if you ask me. And in my opinion one or more pax arguing with the crew is not a valid reason to off-load them. Who knows, they might have had their reasons to complain but got misunderstood by anxious cabin crew.
Let's try a reality check here people; if the industry continues to deny boarding or even off-load boarded passengers for the slightest of misdeads then we are headed for the abyss. What we need is for the public to regain confidence in the industry, and the actions of the Premiair captain does not serve this purpose.
Keep cool guys, and whatever you do remember that without those people down the back of the aircraft there will be no jobs to hold.