United Plans Changes After Bloody Passenger Dragging

More than two weeks after the now-infamous “re-accomodation” of a passenger from United Airlines Flight 3411, the airline has announced plans to make 10 “substantial changes” regarding how it how it will treat its customers.

The planned changes include limiting the use of law enforcement to “safety and security issues,” not requiring customers seated on the plane to give up their seat involuntarily “unless safety or security is at risk” and increasing customer compensation incentives for voluntary-denied boarding up to $10,000,” United Airline officials stated Thursday.

Some of the changes will take effect immediately, and some will be rolled out later this year, the airline stated. [See the full list below]

CEO Oscar Munoz said that each passenger deserves to be treated with “dignity and respect” and the airline “failed to meet that standard” when a bloody and battered doctor was dragged from a flight at O'Hare International Airport after he refused to give up his seat.

• See related article: United Passenger Dragged From Flight Suffered Concussion, Broken Nose

The incident — which was captured on videos that quickly went viral — created a social media storm of outrage directed at United and its handling of the situation.

• See related article: United Airlines' Image Takes Online Beating From Memes, Comments

Munoz previously praised United employees’ actions during the encounter and said that he stood behind all of them.

"Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this," Munoz said shortly after the incident.

• See related article: United CEO Praises Employees After Passenger Bloodied And Kicked Off Plane

However, on Thursday, Munoz said the company’s ensuing review of the incident showed that “many things went wrong that day.”

“The headline is clear… our policies got in the way of our values and procedures interfered in doing what's right,” Munoz said. “This is a turning point for all of us at United and it signals a culture shift toward becoming a better, more customer-focused airline. Our customers should be at the center of everything we do and these changes are just the beginning of how we will earn back their trust.”

CHANGES AT UNITED

According to a statement from United Airlines, planned policy changes include:

• Limit use of law enforcement to safety and security issues only.
• Not require customers seated on the plane to give up their seat involuntarily unless safety or security is at risk.
• Increase customer compensation incentives for voluntary denied boarding up to $10,000.
• Establish a customer solutions team to provide agents with creative solutions such as using nearby airports, other airlines or ground transportation to get customers to their final destination.
• Ensure crews are booked onto a flight at least 60 minutes prior to departure.
• Provide employees with additional annual training.
• Create an automated system for soliciting volunteers to change travel plans.
• Reduce the amount of overbooking.
• Empower employees to resolve customer service issues in the moment.
• Eliminate the red tape on permanently lost bags by adopting a "no questions asked" policy on lost luggage.

THE ‘RE-ACCOMODATION’ THAT SHOCKED AMERICA

United Airline’s official report about the April 9 incident can be seen online here.

“We can never apologize enough for what occurred and for our initial response that followed,” the report states. “United Airlines takes full responsibility for what happened.”

Catch up on additional Patch coverage of the incident at the below links (click headline to read).

• United Passenger Was 'Aggressive'; Aviation Cops Used 'Minimal But Necessary Force': Incident Report
• United Crew Members Will Be Booked 60 Minutes Before Departure Under New Policy
• No United Airlines Firings Over Passenger Dragging At O'Hare: CEO
• United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz Won't Chair Board In 2018
• United Airlines, City Of Chicago Will Keep Evidence Related To Passenger Dragging
• Aviation Expert Defends United: Passenger Didn't Have Right To Stay On Plane

Send feedback to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Main photo by Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images