Passenger scandal spurs United Airlines’ policy shift

Carrier says it has amended procedures amid global condemnation engulfing the carrier after it brutally eject an elderly passenger from one of its flights.

A United Airlines passenger planeThe carrier has changed policy after outrage caused by its forcible removal of a man from an overbooked Chicago to Louisville flight. Mel Evans / AP Photo

United Airlines has changed its policy on employee travel and will now ensure crews riding on its aircraft as passengers are booked at least 60 minutes before departure, according to the company.

The change, issued at the weekend, came after the backlash created by a video showing a United passenger being pulled from his seat and dragged down the aisle after refusing to leave an April 9 flight to make room for an airline employee.

The passenger, David Dao, suffered a concussion, a broken nose and two lost teeth, according to one of his lawyers on Thursday. The attorney Thomas Demetrio said Mr Dao will “probably” sue.

A hearing scheduled for Monday was cancelled after United and the city of Chicago agreed to Mr Dao’s request to preserve and protect evidence, Mr Demetrio’s office said. A filing last week asked a judge to require the airline and city to preserve surveillance videos, crew lists and other information.

United crews previously could be booked on flights until the time of departure. The change will allow employees to bump passengers, if necessary, in the gate area to avoid what happened on Mr Dao’s flight: forcing passengers to leave their seats after they already boarded the aeroplane, said Maggie Schmerin, a United spokeswoman.

“This ensures situations like Flight 3411 never happen again,” she said.

United is reacting to pressure from the public-relations fiasco that blew up after the video spread on social media. The chief executive Oscar Munoz initially called Dao “disruptive” and “belligerent” and apologised only for the need to “re-accommodate” him, but later struck a more contrite tone in a nationally televised interview.

While United is modifying its policy when it comes to booking its own crew, it did not say if the policy of overbooking flights will be changed. The company said it is conducting a full review, and it will announce the results by April 30.

Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines has increased the payouts its airport agents can offer passengers on overbooked flights, moving to prevent a public relations nightmare similar to the one plaguing United.

Customer service agents will be able to offer passengers as much as US$2,000 when they are asked to give up a seat on an oversold flight, up from $800, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg. Managers can offer as much as $9,950, more than seven times the previous cap of $1,350, the memo dated April 13 says.

The Delta spokesman Anthony Black confirmed the authenticity of the memo, but declined to comment further.

The airline is changing policy as it deals with its own bad publicity. An April 5 storm in Atlanta shut down Delta’s operations during heavy spring break travel, with delays made worse by a breakdown in the airline’s crew location and assignment systems, said the chief executive Ed Bastian. About 4,000 flights were canceled in the wake of the storm.

Delta is offering hundreds of thousands of customers $200 flight vouchers or 20,000 bonus frequent-flier miles as part of an apology for flight cancellations earlier this month.

The aftereffects of Delta’s storm-related disruptions lasted as many as six days for some travellers, as they struggled to rebook flights or shelved getaways while the airline attempted to recover from the breakdown. Delta said the cancellations, lost revenue and other costs including travel vouchers and bonus mile giveaways will reduce second-quarter pretax profit by $125 million.

Delta has suffered a series of setbacks in the past year. In January, customers were marooned at airports when flights were grounded due to a computer system breakdown. In August, Delta cancelled about 2,000 flights over a three-day period after its worldwide computer system failed.

Mr Black declined to comment on the voucher and SkyMiles bonus gesture.

“As always, any customer who feels the specifics of their flight requires additional attention should contact Delta Customer Care,” he said.

* Bloomberg