United Airlines CEO won’t resign
NEW YORK: United Continental chief executive Oscar Munoz said Wednesday he will not resign and again apologised for the removal of a customer from an overbooked flight by force – an incident that drew global scorn.
“I was hired to make United better and we’ve been doing that and that’s what I’ll continue to do,” Munoz said, when asked about calls for his resignation as leader of the embattled airline on the ABC show ‘Good Morning America.’
Munoz reiterated his regret over the incident Sunday, which sparked widespread outrage and mushroomed into a global public relations disaster after video of passenger David Dao, 69, his face bloodied, being dragged off the plane, went viral.
“Probably the word ‘ shame’ comes to mind,” Munoz said, adding that he had not yet spoken to Dao, but his team had tried to reach out to him.
“We’ve not been able to contact him directly,” Munoz said. “I do look forward to a time when I can as much as I’m able to apologize directly to him for what’s happened.”
Munoz pledged a thorough review of United’s procedures and promised that police would not be used in the future to remove passengers.
United also said it would compensate all passengers on Dao’s flight.
United shares fell 1.1 per cent to end the trading day at US$69.93.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Dao filed papers in Cook County courthouse in Chicago demanding preservation of surveillance video, passenger and crew lists and other evidence, a first step in potential litigation.
“After being duly processed by the ticket agent, checked in by the attendant and seated in his assigned passenger seat, Petitioner was forcibly dragged and removed from the said aircraft by City employees, sustaining personal injury,” the filing said.
A spokeswoman for law firm Corboy & Demetrio said Dao remained in the hospital but that a family member is expected to participate in a news conference Thursday in Chicago. — AFP
I was hired to make United better and we’ve been doing that and that’s what I’ll continue to do. Oscar Munoz, United Continental chief executive