United Airlines, an American airline company, saw its stock values plummet on Tuesday, after the controversial passenger removal of Dr. David Dao at Chicago’s O’hare Airport over the weekend. The airline’s CEO Oscar Munoz previously apologized, but the dive in stocks may have prompted him to issue another apology.
According to an ABC Australia report, the recent statement directly addresses the apology to the passenger who was forcibly removed and to the other passengers as well. He added that “no one should ever be mistreated this way.”
United Airlines’ Change Of Tune
The airlines came under fire by the public, when video clips of aviation police forcibly removing passenger Dr. David Dao went viral. In one video clip, Dao was shown being dragged down the aisle of the plane by his arms. In another, it shows Dao all bloodied and hanging on to one of the curtains inside the plane.
On Monday, Munoz issued an official statement which was labeled by many as tone deaf and insensitive. He defended the airline’s actions, saying that it was all part of the effort to “re-accommodate” passengers. He also called the passenger “disruptive and belligerent.”
The tune changed however after UA suffered over $250 million dollars in losses after its stock value plummeted. By the end of Tuesday, the company shed $1 billion dollars of its market value.
United Airlines Promises Formal Review By April 30
Munoz also refocused his attention on the company and its policies. Promising to “fix what’s broken” so it does not happen again, he said he will take the lead in reviewing policies on handling oversold flights and handling passengers in situations like this. He also promised to share the results of this said review by the end of April.
In the meantime, the Senate committee concerned with air transport regulation have voiced concern over the incident. They have asked United Airlines and authorities at Chicago O’Hare to explain what happened.
The White House, through press secretary Sean Spicer has called the incident disturbing. According to ABC Australia, he said, “I don’t think there’s a circumstance where you can’t sit back and think, ‘this probably could be handled a little bit better’.”