United Airlines in a new report admits “many things went wrong” on the day a passenger was violently dragged off one of its flights.
“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,” CEO Oscar Munoz said in a statement along with the report about the April 9 incident, The Washington Post first reported.
United says it failed passengers and employees in four ways, including involving law enforcement to remove the passenger, trying to accommodate crew members at the last minute, failing to offer higher compensation to prompt passengers to voluntarily give up seats and not providing employees with the training to deal with “denied boarding situations.”
“Our review shows that many things went wrong that day, but the headline is clear: Our policies got in the way of our values and procedures interfered in doing what’s right,” Munoz said.
{mosads}The report outlining the details of the incident and changes to prevent future issues comes one day after the airline wrote an explanation to members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
“We are working to regain our customers’ trust with the highest quality of service and deepest level of respect and care,” Munoz wrote to the panel.
“United Airlines takes full responsibility for what happened,” the report reads, according to the Post.
It adds that four aviation security officers have been placed on leave pending an investigation.
Lawyers for 69-year-old David Dao, who was forcibly removed from the plane, say the man suffered a concussion, broken nose and two missing teeth.