United changes policy, crew can’t displace seated passengers

Attorney Thomas Demetrio says that agreement means a court hearing scheduled next week isn’t taking place.

Dao suffered a severe concussion, broken nose, and lost two front teeth. Dr. David Dao had more bad news for the airline when he hired one of the country’s foremost trial lawyers to represent him.

The company has also raised compensation that supervisors on duty can offer to displaced passengers from US$1,350 to US$10,000.

After the incident in Chicago, critics questioned why United didn’t offer more when no passengers accepted the airline’s $800 offer for volunteers to give up their seats.

Comedians and social media pounced on the story with jokes about the airline, such as: “You can run, but you can’t fly”, and “We’ll drag you all over the world”.

Dao spent nearly five days in hospital and requires reconstructive surgery on his sinus.

Early on, United CEO Oscar Munoz added to what was already a public relations nightmare for the company when he apologized for the incident but accused Dao of being belligerent. A spokeswoman for the airline told BuzzFeed News it became effective immediately.

“We saw positive trends in the revenue environment in the quarter and are optimistic about the year ahead”, United president Scott Kirby said in a statement. At some point, he went limp, and the officer dragged him off the plane.

Had the commuting crew member been required to check in for the flight before passengers began boarding, United could have denied a customer boarding before he or she was seated. In total, four passengers were ordered off the plane to seat staff.

The attorney was unable to say precisely how Dao was injured. Video evidence later disputed that Dao was acting aggressively. He also sent a reassuring letter to his employees, telling them that Dao “refused” to cooperate after he was “politely asked” to leave, prompting crews to call for help.

“Now I don’t think I’m flying United ever again, if I can help it. …” Dao was forcibly removed from his airline seat by Chicago Department of Aviation police after he refused to give up the seat on an overbooked United Airlines flight. United then chose four passengers to be bumped and all but one left without issue.