But the airline later said it needed to make room for its own employees to keep other flights on schedule.
When physician David Dao was dragged from his Louisville, Ky. -bound flight in Chicago, videos shot by other passengers went viral, prompting worldwide outrage and calls for Congress to enact reforms – and for airlines to better explain procedures on bumping paying passengers.
Crew members and staff taking a United Airlines flight to get to another city for work will now be required to check in one hour before departure.
The policy change comes as the beleaguered airline is still in recovery mode in the aftermath of the viral video of a passenger being dragged off a Chicago-to-Louisville flight Sunday night.
The airline also says it will no longer ask law enforcement to remove passengers from a flight unless there’s a safety issue.
United Airlines has reportedly been reviewing several of its policies after a video leaked six days ago of officers violently booting a passenger from one of its flights.
The same day a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American was dragged from a plane after refusing to give his seat to a staff member, a Canadian man – on a trip from Houston to Calgary – was stung by a scorpion. He also said that Dr Dao was “disruptive and belligerent”. If Delta paid $9,950 to every person it bumped involuntarily previous year, that would total $12 million.
Meanwhile, Business Insider reported that United pilots are “infuriated” by the incident and are blaming Chicago officials for how it was handled. And flight crews have to make must-ride bookings at least 60 minutes prior to departure. A nurse who happened to be on board gave him a painkiller as a precaution, he said. As it stands, it is most likely that the forced removal of Dr. Dao from the United flight will cost the airline millions, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Facing public outrage, United finally apologized and promised that this kind of incidents would never happen again.
A major U.S. airline is offering compensation of up to $9,950 (£7,950) per person for passengers denied boarding on overbooked flights.
Dao plans to file a lawsuit against the airline.