Also Wednesday, a Chicago alderman said representatives from United and the city’s Aviation Department have been summoned before a city council committee to answer questions about the confrontation at O’Hare Airport.
Dr. David Dao, who was dragged off a plane in Chicago last Sunday, isn’t filing a lawsuit yet.
The US Department of Transportation argued that airlines are allowed to kick people off overbooked flights if no volunteers come forward. United Airlines officials had selected Dao and his wife as two of four passengers who would be re-accommodated on a later flight. As previously reported, airline personnel on the flight bound for Louisville from Chicago had asked for passenger volunteers to give up their seats so that several United employees could make their connecting flights the next day.
Has United Airlines implemented any policy changes as a result of this incident?
Munoz was widely criticized for two earlier statements, including one in which he described the passenger as “disruptive and belligerent”.
As if things couldn’t get worse for United, an email from CEO Oscar Munoz to his employees commending them for their actions and praising his staff for going “above and beyond” was leaked. He appeared on Good Morning America and admitted that his initial words “fell short of truly expressing the shame”.
“Currently, (Dao and his family) are focused only on Dao’s medical care and treatment”, Chicago-based lawyer Stephen Golan said in a statement. “You’ll have to drag me”, he said.
According to NBC News, three of the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave.
President Donald Trump commented on the situation on Wednesday, calling it “horrible”.
Emirates’ video asserts that they are a real airline -a highly-rated one, in fact – and mocks United’s famous slogan, encouraging travelers to “fly the friendly skies… this time for real”.
“We would ask, the contexts of the president’s efforts on regulatory reform to improve the lives of our citizens, that you consider the immediate suspension of this overbooking authority until a thorough review can be conducted by your department”, Christie said. “They should have gone up higher. But to just randomly say, ‘You’re getting off the plane, ‘ that was awful”.