United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz apologized amid the widespread backlash over the forcible removal of a passenger from one of the company's planes.
"I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard," he said in the statement. "No one should ever be mistreated this way."
Statement from United Airlines CEO.
Munoz earlier received flack for taking his employees’ side; he refused to apologize to the passenger whom he described as “disruptive and belligerent.”
What happened?
United Airlines has caused a public uproar after videos of three police officers dragging a passenger off an overbooked flight were posted online.
Footage of paying passenger being dragged off flight
The flight in question – United Flight 3411 – was due to depart from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday when the incident took place.
The flight was overbooked, which meant the airline had sold more tickets than available seats. United said it needed to put four members of its staff on the full flight because they needed to be in Louisville the next day. The airline chose four people at random to kick off the flight because none of the passengers volunteered to give up their seats.
According to US media, one of those chosen was David Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American immigrant. He was pulled out of his seat and dragged, screaming, down the aisle after he refused to leave, footage shot by other passengers showed. The videos showed blood on Dao’s face.
Dao is a doctor who refused to get off the plane because he needed to see his patients the next day, reports said.
A Chicago Aviation Police officer has been suspended for the incident.
Response of authorities
The US Department of Transportation said it was looking into the incident to see if the airline complied with rules on overbooked flights.
White House Spokesperson Sean Spicer said the incident was “troubling.”
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“Clearly when you watch the video, it is troubling to see how that was handled,” Spicer said. He said he believed US President Donald Trump has seen the video.
Storm of criticism continues
An online petition is calling for a federal investigation into the incident. Nearly 150,000 people have signed. Offline, members of the Asian community in Chicago have gathered at O'Hare International Airport to protest.
CGTN Photo
In China, United’s biggest market outside of the US, people have been critical.
A post about the incident has been viewed over half a billion times on the social media site Weibo. The hastag #美联航强制乘客下机# (#UnitedForcesPassengerOffPlane) has become one of the most read topics since the incident happened. Many say Dao’s removal may have been racially-motivated.
Weibo Photo
“People already know what happened, so how will the incident be resolved? What can we do if we encounter a similar situation? We need to think about that.” asked Chinese Weibo user @GD-TXie.
People online also made fun of United using a popular television drama “In the Name of the People,” a show about corruption in China.
In the drama, a corrupt official fled the country on a United flight and asked the flight attendant for champagne. The flight attendant asked him what he was celebrating, and he said “Freedom”.
Weibo users changed that line of dialogue so that the official tells the attendant: “For not forcing me off the plane.”
A post on Weibo uses the drama "In the Name of the People" to poke fun at United Airlines
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