@United overbook #flight3411 and decided to force random passengers off the plane. Here’s how they did it: pic.twitter.com/QfefM8X2cW
— Jayse D. Anspach (@JayseDavid) April 10, 2017
Some change has come to United. The airline said Sunday that they’re no longer removing passengers to seat crew. TMZ obtained an April 14 internal memo announcing the new rule, and The New York Times got confirmation from a spokesperson.
“We issued an updated policy to make sure crews traveling on our aircraft are booked at least 60 minutes prior to departure,” spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin wrote in an email. “This is one of our initial steps in a review of our policies.”
This comes after a widely publicized incident. Viral footage from last Sunday shows aviation police officers dragging Dr. David Dao off a flight from Chicago to Louisville. He refused to voluntarily leave, saying he had patients back home in Kentucky. The doctor was injured in this incident, visibly bleeding from the mouth.
Passenger Audra Bridges, who recorded another video of the incident, said that United overbooked the flight, and needed to remove some passengers so standby crew could ride instead. She told the Louisville Courier Journal that the airline offered volunteers to take money and a hotel stay in return for leaving. When no one took the offer, it was announced that passengers would be removed at random.
United lost at least $1.5 billion dollars in stocks thanks to the public outcry, and CEO Oscar Munoz publicly apologized. Dao’s attorney, Thomas Demetrio, said on Thursday that his client suffered a concussion, broken nose, and the lost of front teeth.
[Screengrab via Twitter]
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