Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Airlines' parent company, said employees "followed established procedures" when removing a passenger from a flight Sunday in a violent incident caught on video.
According to an email Munoz sent to employees Monday night, the passenger "defied Chicago Aviation Security Officers" when he was asked to deplane an overbooked flight from Chicago to Louisville. The passenger reportedly grew "disruptive and belligerent."
According to CNBC, crew members "were left with no choice but to call Chicago Aviation Security Officers to assist in removing the customer from the flight," Munoz wrote. The passenger "continued to resist — running back onto the aircraft in defiance of both our crew and security officials."
Video of the man being dragged off the United Airlines flight, his face bloodied, went viral Monday and sparked all kinds of backlash from the media and the public, alike. The company's stock dropped as much as 6.3 percent before paring the loss, and was trading 2.7 percent lower in New York Tuesday morning.
“Our employers followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this. While I deeply regret this situation arose, I also emphatically stand behind all of you, and I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond to ensure we fly right,” Munoz wrote in his email.
“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United,” he added. “I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own 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.”
These “established procedures” that Munoz is referring to has Twitter going crazy.
Jimmy Kimmel got in on the fun on his show Monday night, teasing a new "promo video" for United employees.
The flight, which was headed for Louisville, Kentucky, was overbooked — a regular airline practice — and United needed room for some crewmembers. The airline first asked for volunteers who would be willing to switch their travel plans in exchange for travel vouchers.
Audra Bridges, a passenger on the plane who captured the video that went viral, said a manager finally came on board and told passengers that a computer was going to randomly select four people to leave the plane to make room for the United employees, according to The Courier-Journal.
One couple left the plane without a fight, but that was not the case for a man who claimed he was a doctor and needed to return to Louisville to tend to patients. He has since been identified at 69-year-old David Dao.
Bridges said the man was “very upset.”
Another video shows the bloodied doctor running back onto the plane just moments later, saying "I have to go home" repeatedly.
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