United passenger dragged off overbooked flight

CHICAGO — United Airlines found itself in the middle of a social media storm on Monday (April 10), after the US carrier forcibly removed a passenger from a flight due to overbooking. 

The incident occurred Sunday on a United Express flight bound for Louisville, Kentucky, from Chicago. United Express flights are operated by one of eight regional airlines which partner with United. 

The airline said it had asked for volunteers to give up their seats on the flight, and police were called after one passenger refused to leave the plane. 

Smartphone video posted online showed three Chicago Department of Aviation police officers struggling with a seated middle-aged man, who appeared to be Asian

The man started to scream as he is dragged off while other passengers looked on -- some recording the event with their phones.

One passenger can be heard yelling, "Oh my God, look at what you did to him!"

The episode ignited social media outrage, with "United" a trending term on Twitter, Facebook and Google.

The Chicago Department of Aviation said Monday evening in a statement that the incident "was not in accordance with our standard operating procedure and the actions of the aviation security officer are obviously not condoned by the Department."

"That officer has been placed on leave effective today pending a thorough review of the situation," the statement said.

It was another example of bad press and negative social media coverage for United, after an incident in late March when two teenage girls were prevented from boarding a flight in Denver because they were wearing leggings.

The airline defended its action, saying the girls were flying on passes that required them to abide by a dress code in return for free or discounted travel.

In Sunday's incident, United told US media that it had asked for volunteers to leave the overbooked plane. 

"One customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate," United spokesman Charlie Hobart was quoted by the Chicago Tribune newspaper as saying. 

The airline did not return AFP's request for comment.

United Airlines chief executive Oscar Munoz addressed the latest controversy in a statement posted Monday on the airline's website. 

"This is an upsetting event to all of us," Munoz said, adding that the airline was conducting a "detailed review of what happened." 

"We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation," he said.

In a letter circulated to employees and seen by Reuters, United Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz did not apologize for the way the passenger was handled, writing that the passenger had "defied" security officers.

Munoz said there are lessons the company can learn from this situation, though he impressed that he "emphatically" stands behind his employees.

"We sought volunteers and then followed our involuntary denial of boarding process (including offering up to $1,000 in compensation)," Munoz wrote. "When we approached one of these passengers to explain apologetically that he was being denied boarding, he raised his voice and refused to comply with crew member instructions."

Charlie Hobart, the United spokesman, confirmed that United sought passengers willing to give up their seats with compensation but that none stepped forward.

Another United employee told passengers that the plane would not leave until four people got off, Bridges said. The employee specified that the airline had four United employees who needed to get to Louisville, he said.

Four passengers were selected to be bumped, and three left without incident, Hobart said.

Hobart would not say whether the bumped passengers were chosen by a computer, an employee or some combination of the two. But factors can include how long a customer would have to stay at the airport before being rebooked, he said, and the airline looks to avoid separating families or leaving unaccompanied minors.

A United employee first approached a couple who appeared to be in their mid-20s, Bridges said, and the pair begrudgingly got off the plane. Then the United employee went to a man five rows behind Bridges and told him he needed to get off the plane. Bridges said the man told the employee, "I'm not getting off the plane. I'm a doctor; I have to see patients in the morning."

Hobart said: "We explained the scenario to the customer. That customer chose not to get out of his seat."

The United employee then told the man that if he did not get off the plane, she would call security. As she turned to leave, the man shouted after her, Bridges said. Specifically, he said, the passenger complained that he had been singled out because he was Chinese.

Tyler Bridges, who posted video of Sunday's incident on Twitter, wrote: "not a good way to treat a Doctor trying to get to work because they overbooked."

He described passenger reaction on the plane as "disturbed." 

"Kids were crying," he said. 

The situation also became uncomfortable for the United employees who then got on board and took the vacated seats, Bridges said. They were berated by passengers and told they should be ashamed, Hobart said.

Bridges also wrote that the man appeared bloodied after his encounter with law enforcement and posted video showing him later running back on the plane, repeatedly saying, "I have to go home."

The man appeared to be pacing and disoriented. 

US airlines are allowed to involuntarily bump passengers off overbooked flights, with compensation, if enough volunteers cannot be found, according to the US Department of Transportation (DOT).

"While it is legal for airlines to involuntarily bump passengers from an oversold flight when there are not enough volunteers, it is the airline's responsibility to determine its own fair boarding priorities," a DOT spokesperson said in a statement.

The department said it was reviewing whether United complied with overbook rules that require airlines to set guidelines on how passengers are denied boarding if they do not volunteer to give up their seats. AGENCIES