United Airlines is conducting "a thorough review of
crew movement, our policies for incentivizing volunteers in these situations,
how we handle oversold situations and an examination of how we partner with
airport authorities and local law enforcement," CEO Oscar Munoz said.
The carrier is facing a media firestorm following an
incident in which 69-year-old passenger David Dao was injured after he was
forcibly dragged off an aircraft preparing for takeoff from Chicago to
Louisville on Sunday. United selected Dao to be bumped to make room for United
employees who needed to be in Louisville for operational reasons, but Dao refused
to give up his seat. Footage of the incident taken by other passengers,
including one showing a dazed and bloodied Dao returning to the aircraft,
spread quickly across social media on Monday.
Munoz's newest statement comes after another, widely
criticized statement he made on Monday, in which he talked about "having
to reaccommodate" passengers but did not mention Dao's injuries. Additionally,
in a widely circulated internal United communication, Munoz called Dao
"disruptive and belligerent."
Bumping passengers off a flight—which carriers generally
determine based on type of ticket purchased, the passenger's connections and
order of check-in—actually has become rarer in recent years, according to the
Department of Transportation. In 2016, U.S. carriers posted a bumping rate of
0.62 per 10,000 passengers, which is lower than the rate of 0.73 posted in 2015
and the lowest annual rate in DOT data dating back to 1995.
Even so, Dao's bumping was out of the ordinary because it
was handled after he boarded the aircraft and did not involve an oversold
situation. Instead, the seats were needed for crew and not for paying
passengers.
"I continue to be disturbed by what happened on this
flight, and I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the
customers aboard," Munoz said in the newest statement. "No one should
ever be mistreated this way. I want you to know that we take full
responsibility, and we will work to make it right."
Munoz
said the results of the review will be reported by April 30. The Chicago
Department of Aviation also has put one of the officers involved in Dao's
removal on leave, pending an investigation, according to Bloomberg.