United was moved to change policy

You’ve got a business meeting in New York or a vacation in Paris. United has convenient flights at a good price. But maybe you’ll choose another carrier just to avoid Hell’s favorite airline — the one that had a passenger dragged from his seat before takeoff.

To United CEO Oscar Munoz, fear that a single outrageous incident on an April 9 flight out of Chicago’s O’Hare International could permanently wreck his brand’s reputation is real enough for him to change how the airline operates. On Thursday he ripped up the company’s playbook on the management of overbooking situations. He also promised to never repeat the O’Hare customer service disaster.

What Munoz said is worth quoting because United’s success, and his job security, depend on whether flyers find it to be true: Every customer deserves to be treated with the highest levels of service and the deepest sense of dignity and respect.

While flying is a highstress business and legroom ain’t what it was, an airline’s personality shines through based on each interaction with employees. Either a spirit of common decency prevails or it doesn’t.

For Chicago-based United, things went wrong years ago. The airline endured a stay in bankruptcy court after the tragedy of 9/11, and the 2010 merger with Continental was mismanaged. By the time Munoz took over in 2015, employees and passengers were both fed up. Then Munoz missed time for heart-replacement surgery. Still, the airline’s performance and image were improving — until passengers boarded the 5:40 p.m. United Express flight to Louisville on a certain Sunday.

As part of Munoz’s mea culpa, United released a brief report explaining what happened and what will change. United said that because an earlier flight to Louisville was delayed for a mechanical issue, agents decided at the last minute to rebook four crew members onto Flight 3411 to ensure they could work a Louisville-Newark flight the next morning. When no passengers volunteered to make room by giving up their seats in exchange for compensation, agents followed company protocol to identify four customers to be involuntarily bumped. After one of those passengers, Dr. David Dao, refused to leave his seat, United agents called Chicago Aviation Department officers, who roughed him up and dragged him off.

United admits it all went wrong. Employees didn’t have the authority or the training to solve an unusual situation, so they followed standard procedure to the disastrous conclusion: United seen around the world on social media as the airline that beat up a paying customer.

Going forward United says it won’t squeeze traveling crew members onto flights at the last minute, won’t bump customers who have boarded, won’t call the cops to eject a customer because of an overbooking issue and will reduce overbooking. Just as important, United employees will have the training and permission to resolve customer- service issues in the moment. They’ll be able to offer as much as $10,000 in compensation to entice volunteers to be bumped and get creative in finding alternate transportation for bumped passengers and crew.

So which airline will you book to New York or Paris? Munoz hopes you’re willing to give United another try.