United CEO on damage control after viral video
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz said Wednesday he felt “ashamed” watching the videos of a man being dragged off one of his planes — but his problems are far from over with several investigations promised over the incident, a possible lawsuit pending and facing the mockery of rival airlines.
“This can never, will never happen again,” Munoz told ABC over the incident in which Dr. David Dao was dragged from a plane in Chicago when he refused to voluntarily give up his seat.
“No one should ever be mistreated this way,” said Munoz, who originally described Dao, 69, of Elizabethtown, Ky., as “disruptive and belligerent.” But Munoz told ABC he felt “ashamed” when he saw videos of the incident.
Screaming can be heard on the videos, but nowhere is Dao — who was ordered to leave the plane because it was overbooked — seen attacking the three aviation police officers who forced him from his seat. In fact, he appeared relatively passive both when he was dragged down the jet’s aisle, bleeding from the mouth, and later when he was seen standing in the aisle saying quietly, “I want to go home, I want to go home.”
Munoz’s latest statement described the removal as “truly horrific.” He said the company would reassess policies for seeking volunteers to give up their seats, for handling oversold situations and for partnering with airport authorities and local law enforcement.
He said the company would no longer use law enforcement officers to remove passengers from overbooked flights.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is reviewing Sunday’s events to see if United violated rules on overselling flights.
Two online petitions calling for Munoz to step down as CEO had more than 124,000 signatures combined by Wednesday afternoon, but he told ABC that he had no plans to resign.
Shares of United Continental closed 1.1 per cent lower at US$69.93 on Wednesday. They fell as much as 4.4 per cent on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Dao filed an emergency request with an Illinois state court on Wednesday to require the carrier to preserve video recordings and other evidence related to the incident. The filing likely presages an eventual lawsuit against United.
United announced it would compensate all passengers for the cost of the flight as it desperately sought to recover from the global damage to its brand.
Middle Eastern carriers seized on the incident to hit back at an arch rival.
Dubai-based Emirates mocked United’s best-known advertising slogan on its Twitter account, urging passengers to “fly the friendly skies with a real airline.”
Royal Jordanian Airlines tweeted a picture of a no-smoking sign on one of its aircraft along with the message: “We would like to remind you that drags on our flights are strictly prohibited by passengers — and crew.”