The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WHAT UNITED AIRLINES IS DOING TO REPAIR ITS IMAGE
Airline also issues policies to prevent future incidents.
Lawyers for David Dao, the Kentucky man who was violently removed from a flight for refusing to give up his seat earlier this month, said Thursday that they have reached a confidential settlement with United Airlines.
The agreement comes on the same day that United released the results of an internal investigation that found it had made multiple mistakes in its handling of the incident, and pledged to make immediate changes to improve the flying experience for customers.
In the report, United says it had allowed internal policies to distract from the need to treat passengers with dignity and respect and it outlines what the company intends to do to prevent a repeat of the incident.
Under the airline’s new customer-first policy, travelers who voluntarily give up their seats will be eligible to receive up to $10,000 in travel certificates. United employees will be given new authority to find creative solutions to get bumped passengers to their final destinations — even if it means booking them on another airline or sending them to another airport.
“This is a turning point for all of us at United and it signals a culture shift toward becoming a better, more customer-focused airline,” chief executive Oscar Munoz said in a statement that accompanied the release of the report on the April 9 incident at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. “Our customers should be at the center of everything we do and these changes are just the beginning of how we will earn back their trust.”
With the report, Munoz makes good on a public promise he made several days after Dao, 69, was dragged out of his seat, down the aisle and off the plane after he refused to give up his seat for offduty crew. Other passengers captured the incident on their phones and shared video that has been viewed millions of times worldwide and sparked international outrage.
Dao’s lawyer, Thomas Demetrio said Dao suffered a concussion, broken nose and two missing teeth, among other injuries. Four aviation security officers involved in the incident have been placed on leave while the investigation continues.
When asked about the conduct of the officers involved in violent removal of Dao from the plane, Munoz said that yes, he thought it was wrong, but again took responsibility for the situation saying, “Did
I believe what law enforcement folks did was wrong? Yeah. But once again, it was I and we who put them in that situation.”
The report lays out four ways in which United says it failed both its passengers and employees. In addition to unnecessarily summoning law enforcement, the airline should not have tried to find space on the flight for crew members at the last minute. It also should have offered more compensation or more transportation options to entice customers to give up their seats voluntarily, but it acknowledged that agents did not have the authority to make such decisions. Finally, the report said the airline has not provided regular training for employees on how to deal with “denied boarding situations.”
Details from incident
According to the report, Flight 3411, scheduled to leave Chicago at 5:40 p.m. for Louisville, was overbooked by one seat. After no volunteers came forward, the airline bumped a passenger who had not yet received a seating assignment. That person received a check as compensation and was booked on another United flight, the report said. The remaining passengers were allowed to board.
At the same time, however, another United flight to Louisville that had been scheduled to depart at 2:55 p.m. was delayed because of mechanical difficulties. The airline needed to get four crew members who had been booked on that flight to Louisville on Sunday night in order to prevent at least one other flight from being canceled.
And so the crew members were rebooked on Flight 3411. As a result, the airline needed four of the 70 passengers aboard to give up their seats. The gate agent offered $800 in travel credits plus the cost of meals and a hotel stay and when no one came forward, the agent followed United’s procedure for involuntarily bumping passengers. A United supervisor boarded the plane and told a couple they would have to leave. The couple left. The supervisor then told Dao and his wife they would have to leave. Dao refused. After receiving multiple refusals, United officials told Dao they would call authorities if he continued to protest. At this point another passenger volunteered to leave the plane in exchange for $1,000 in compensation. But United officials still needed a fourth seat. Chicago Department of Aviation officers then arrived on the scene. They too were unsuccessful in persuading Dao to leave.
According to the report, the United supervisor left the aircraft to call a manager. It was at that point that Dao, the report said, “... was physically removed from the aircraft,” by the aviation security officers.
That moment, captured on video by other passengers aboard the flight, showed Dao yelling as he is pulled from his seat and then dragged down the aisle of the plane.
Changes promised
In addition to increasing the compensation for passengers who voluntarily give up their seats, the airline will create an automated system to identify passengers willing to give up their seats and allow them to set the level of compensation they would be willing to accept. Starting in August, the airline also will offer additional training for front-line staff and later this year will roll out an app that will allow employees to immediately compensate customers when a service issue arises.
Even though United officials say only a small percentage of passengers are involuntarily bumped, they said they will reduce overbooking on those flights where volunteers are less likely to come forward. Overbooking is not illegal, but has drawn new scrutiny from members of Congress following the airline’s treatment of Dao.
United’s offer of $10,000 in flight certificates brings it in line with Delta, which announced earlier this month that it was boosting the maximum amount of compensation it would offer passengers. And Southwest Airlines announced Thursday that is will stop overbooking flights in the next quarter, partly in response to the incident.