United Airlines reaches settlement with passenger dragged from plane

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United Airlines reaches settlement with passenger dragged from plane

By Timothy Mclaughlin

REUTERS

 

A video screengrab shows passenger David Dao being dragged off a United Airlines flight at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in this video filmed by @JayseDavid April 9, 2017. Jayse D. Anspach via REUTERS

 

CHICAGO (Reuters) - United Airlines <UAL.N> and the passenger who was dragged from a Chicago flight earlier this month have reached a settlement for an undisclosed sum, they said on Thursday, in the carrier's latest step to contain damage from an incident that sparked international outrage.

 

Viral videos of Dr. David Dao being dragged down the aisle of a United jet and Chief Executive Oscar Munoz's handling of the incident touched off a public outcry, prompted calls from congressmen for new industry regulation, and led United's board of directors to reverse an agreement to make Munoz company chairman in 2018.

 

United said earlier on Thursday that it would offer passengers who give up their seats up to $10,000, reduce overbooking of flights and no longer call on law enforcement officers to deny ticketed passengers their seats.

 

Southwest Airlines also said on Thursday that it would end overbooking of flights.

 

Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American doctor, was injured when Chicago aviation police removed him from his seat and then dragged him from the plane to make space for four crew members on the flight from O'Hare International Airport to Louisville, Kentucky.

 

United has taken "full responsibility for what happened on Flight 3411, without attempting to blame others, including the City of Chicago," Thomas Demetrio, an attorney for Dao, said in a statement.

 

Demetrio said there was no need to proceed with separate litigation against the city. Republic Airways, United's regional partner which operated the flight that Dao was on, has also been released from responsibility as part of the settlement, Demetrio's office said.

 

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office declined to comment on the settlement.

 

The three Chicago Department of Aviation officers who pulled Dao off the plane and a supervisor involved in the incident remain on paid leave, said Chicago Department of Aviation spokesman Karen Pride, who declined to comment on the settlement.

 

United said in a separate statement that it was pleased to reach "an amicable resolution of the unfortunate incident that occurred aboard flight 3411."

 

"We look forward to implementing the improvements we have announced, which will put our customers at the center of everything we do," the airline said.

 

Munoz stressed that point in a letter sent on Thursday to customers, saying the airline would increase its focus on their satisfaction.

 

"We can never say we are sorry enough for what occurred, but we also know meaningful actions will speak louder than words," he said.

 

Separately, officials at 10 of the busiest U.S. airports said their rules prevent security officers from physically removing passengers from airplanes unless a crime is committed.

 

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Richard Chang)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-28

[darksidedog]

I hope he stung them for a goodly sum for their really poor performance.

[Briggsy]

That must be the quickest settlement in the history of the airline industry. United must have badly wanted this one done and dusted.

 

Bearing in mind, the guy is a seasoned poker player, United must have come in really high. I would love to know the amount.

[cocorico2558]

United Airlines reaction to this thing was extremely arrogant. Hope US citizens do seriously boycott this crazy airline and make sure they are out of business soon. They only understand the money argument.

[steve187]

correct result

[4MyEgo]

17 minutes ago, cocorico2558 said:

United Airlines reaction to this thing was extremely arrogant. Hope US citizens do seriously boycott this crazy airline and make sure they are out of business soon. They only understand the money argument.

It was the actions of poorly trained security officers and supervisor who created the incident, thus bringing the airline into disrepute, I hope a fair settlement was reached, as for the security officers and supervisor on paid leave, well, personally, I would give them the bullet.

 

I am also sure all airlines will now no longer overbook their flights in fear of a similar occurrence happening. 

Edited April 28, 2017 by 4MyEgo

[jacko45k]

I bet he did better than a free flight and $800 in vouchers!

[klauskunkel]

It's now called United Dao Airlines

[humqdpf]

7 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I hope he stung them for a goodly sum for their really poor performance.

Well you can be damn sure it was not just a few bucks if United have managed to get him to agree to a gag order on the subject. I would imagine that United were facing an open court trial for compensatory damages of say max $1million plus a punitive damages based probably on a class action suit (the class being customers of the airline) of an amount that would be large enough to punish the airline - say $50-100million. This is not to say that he would have gotten the full amount or anything like it but he might have been angry enough to not want the money (he is an older gent) but instead want to see the CEO and the thugs who manhandled him have to answer questions in open court. United would have to pay a small army of lawyers which alone would probably cost somewhere between $5 and 10 million if they went to full trial. If they went on full defence, it would have cost them a lot more and they would have looked like idiots.

 

My guess is that United paid up at least $5million plus costs and may have gone to $10million.  But if the passenger decided to dig his heals in, they may have had to go a lot more as the costs of even going to court from a PR point of view would have been terrible.

 

It is also not clear who is taking liability on this. Yes, United ordered him off the plane but it was state employees (to my understanding) who dragged him off. He may or may not be taking individual cases against each of these guys but United may be including them in the settlement as otherwise you can get counter-cases with the thugs suing United etc. The last thing United wants is more discussion about this case in public anywhere ever and so they will pay up for everyone, at a guess.

[steven100]

He got 1 years free access to all United Airlines lounges for any flight he takes and he also will receive 5 free upgrades to first class valid for 2 years. 

 

[Credo]

This may not be over.   United may have settled, but that doesn't mean the airport police are off the hook as well as other agencies.   

[Fulwell53]

One can only imagine the reaction of the usual suspects had this been thai airlines and not united airlines.

All the usual cliches

Bullies

Cowards

Corruption

Bottom line is it hopefully wont reoccur

[Farang hunter]

bad news to hear

[LawrenceN]

8 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

I am also sure all airlines will now no longer overbook their flights in fear of a similar occurrence happening. 

It's implied in the article that United will continue to overbook, but that they will offer up to $10,000 to passengers to delay their travel. I'm as sure as you are that other airlines will continue to overbook as well, so they can fill those planes. And I don't mean to judge the airlines harshly for overbooking; they do it due to the economic pressure to compete. The higher limits on compensation bring some balance back into the equation.

[LawrenceN]

5 hours ago, humqdpf said:

 

Yes, United ordered him off the plane but it was state employees (to my understanding) who dragged him off.

Police officers employed by the City of Chicago.

Edited April 28, 2017 by LawrenceN
To improve readability

[reenatinnakor]

I hope he got at least 10m usd and the lawyers 5m. And free trips for him and his family for life. It's a shame it didn't go to court and United go bankrupt but I guess Dao is happy with a few m's unlike other silly lawsuits, can't begrudge him any of whatever the amount is.

Sent from my LG-H990 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Basil B]

Now the latest bad news for United, one hopping mad bunny owner...

 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/26/united-airlines-new-pr-disaster-giant-rabbit-simon-dies-uk-flight

[cewing]

You are correct -- it was the Chicago Department of Aviation ("CDA") who pulled the passenger from the plane.  They were asked to do it by Republic Airline (RA).  United Airlines' only involvement was to have RA as the flight operator.  And neither UA nor RA can choose what organization(s) forcibly remove passengers from flights.  So, it should be primarily the CDA and secondarily RA who pay the majority of the settlement.  (BTW, I have no affiliation with United Airlines.)

Edited April 28, 2017 by cewing

[pegman]

18 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

It's now called United Dao Airlines

They didn't get off that easy. It's Dao United Air (DUA)

[pegman]

13 hours ago, Farang hunter said:

bad news to hear

Better news will be if that thug of a security guard gets at least a couple years in prison for the assault he committed.

[Farang hunter]

1 hour ago, pegman said:

Better news will be if that thug of a security guard gets at least a couple years in prison for the assault he committed.

I don't give a damn about people who wear the uniform they are already slaves, I want to see united airlines pay a lot so overbooking stops period.

[thaibeachlovers]

So I get to say "I told you so". While we don't know the amount, it was obviously a lot. Well done Dao.

[pegman]

4 hours ago, Farang hunter said:

I don't give a damn about people who wear the uniform they are already slaves, I want to see united airlines pay a lot so overbooking stops period.

Well you should be happy to know that this incidence has brought about a new UAL policy where they will now offer $10,000 per over sold seat. That will likely mean a forced removal is never needed again.

[dick dasterdly]

3 hours ago, pegman said:

Well you should be happy to know that this incidence has brought about a new UAL policy where they will now offer $10,000 per over sold seat. That will likely mean a forced removal is never needed again.

It wasn't "needed" at the time - it was just the cheap, preferred option by the airline.

 

Aided and abetted by security staff happy to forcibly remove a passenger for annoying the airline.

[balo]

On 4/28/2017 at 7:34 AM, Briggsy said:

Bearing in mind, the guy is a seasoned poker player, United must have come in really high. I would love to know the amount.

 

Well maybe look for him in the next year WSOP in Vegas, he could be spending a fortune on poker there after this . 

 

[mrdome]

17 hours ago, Farang hunter said:

I want to see united airlines pay a lot so overbooking stops period.

No, overbooking won't stop as across all potentially full flights day by day, leaving seats empty would add up fast to a huge sum of lost revenue.

 

I'm happy they are now upping the amount offered and rethinking how they transport crews on short notice , which caused this problem in the first place.

 

However, I am also concerned that if they want to get a non-cooperative passenger off, they will from now on order everyone to get off the plane and then address the issue "in private", as has already happened (not so much concerned for the passenger but for everyone else being inconvenienced).

[Farang hunter]

3 minutes ago, mrdome said:

leaving seats empty would add up fast to a huge sum of lost revenue

In that case I suggest some airline companies just pile passengers on each other inside every airplane.  isn't it better to avoid lost of revenue!

[ddavidovsky]

Disgusting that this guy's anti-social tantrum should earn him a pay-off that will see him good for the rest of his life. Some cute trick. If he says it was all about the principle - well then, having made his point, can we now see him donate his ill-gotten gains to charity?

[A1Str8]

Oh look how their words changed, now that half of the world hates them. First they said they had not done anything wrong. 

[Farang hunter]

2 minutes ago, A1Str8 said:

half of the world hates them

wow