‘Ashamed’ airline boss promises action

● United chief says removal policy will be reviewed after passenger ejected

United Airlines boss Oscar Munoz says he felt “ashamed” watching video of a passenger being dragged off a flight and has promised to review the airline’s passenger removal policy.

In an interview with ABC’S Good Morning America, Mr Munoz apologised to Dr David Dao of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, his family and the other passengers who witnessed him being forcibly removed from the United Express plane.

Mr Munoz vowed this “will never happen again on a United flight” and that law enforcement will not be involved in future.

Mr Munoz called the embarrassment a “system failure”, saying United will review its policies for seeking volunteers to give up their seats when a flight is full.

United was trying to find seats for four employees, meaning four passengers had to leave the aircraft.

“That is not who our family at United (Airlines) is,” he said. “This will never happen again on a United flight. That’s my promise.”

The passenger was identified as physician David Dao, 69, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who was convicted more than a decade ago of felony charges involving his prescribing of drugs and spent years trying to regain his medical licence.

But while Mr Dao’s history quickly became a focus of attention, there is no indication that his past influenced how he was treated or that the airline or police were aware of his background or would have known anything about him other than basic information such as his name and address, if that.

Screaming can be heard on the videos, but nowhere is Mr Dao seen attacking the officers. In fact, he appears relatively passive both when he was dragged down the aisle of the jet and when he is seen standing in the aisle later saying quietly, “I want to go home, I want to go home.”

Mr 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.

An attorney who represents Mr Dao said his client was being treated at a Chicago hospital for injuries he sustained on the plane and that the family would not comment.

According to records from the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Mr Dao went to medical school at the University of Medicine of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, graduating in 1974. He was licenced in Kentucky with a specialty in pulmonary disease.

His legal troubles started in 2003, when his medical licence was suspended after an undercover sting operation at a Louisville motel for allegedly writing fraudulent prescriptions.

According to the documents, the licensing board had learned that Mr Dao had become sexually interested in a patient and hired the patient as his office manager. That man later said he quit his job because Mr Dao “pursued him aggressively” and arranged to provide him with prescription drugs in exchange for sex.

Dao was ultimately convicted in late 2004 of several counts of obtaining drugs by fraud or deceit and was placed on five years of supervised probation and surrendered his medical licence.

His effort to get his licence back finally succeeded in 2015.