On Sunday, April 9th a man was dragged off the United Airlines because the plane was overbooked.
Many airlines will sell more tickets then the plane can handle, thinking there will be cancellations. If the plane is still overbooked, the airline will offer rewards to those who reschedule their flight. The United Airlines had more passengers than planned, and many wanted to get to their destination on time and safely. The flight was scheduled to leave from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky but it was delayed two hours due to the incident.
There needed to be an extra four seats for United Airline employees to get to Louisville. The airline stated they will give up an $400 voucher to those who gave up their seats. This voucher increased until it reached $1,000, but no one was willing to give up their seats. The airlines then decided that four random people would be bumped from their seats. Three of them left without incident.
A man named David Dao, who was Chinese, would not give up his seat. The employees stated the situation but the man replied, “I’m not getting off the plane. I’m a doctor; I have to see patients in the morning.” The airline employee stated they will call security if he did not leave his seat; as the employee got up to leave, the man screamed at her that they were ruling him out because he was Chinese. They eventually called the police and the man was forcibly removed from his seat. The man was seen being dragged by the arms down the aisle, glasses sliding down his face, shirt riding above his stomach. After he got dragged out of the plane, he somehow got back on, hold his that was covered in blood. Dao suffered from a broken nose, two broken teeth, and a concussion.
After the incident, United Airlines made new regulations concerning what happened. Employees are now required to book must-ride flights 60 minutes before departure so that passengers do not get booted from their seats. The Airlines did put Dao into a hospital so he can be treated for his injuries. CEO Oscar Munoz stated that no one will be fired due to the incident “It was a system failure, there was never a consideration for firing an employee or anyone around it;” but the three officers were suspended for the force used on Dao. Neal Dunn, United States Representative, is creating the SEAT (Secure Equity in Airline Transportation) Act is trying to pass the law that the secretary of transportation monitors and revise federal rules concerning how airlines treat travels with already booked air flights. Dunn has made his case for the proposed legislation and is currently being debated. “Passengers should have the peace of mind to know they will not be dragged off a plane once they’re in their seat;” As of now, United Airlines apologized to Dao and is still trying to make more regulations so that this incident does not happen again.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/25/us/united-airlines-incident-officers-report/
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/18/news/companies/united-no-firings/ (Isidore)
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/aftermath-united-incident-neal-dunn-focuses-overbooked-flights-seat-act (Derby)