United Airlines spared from paying fine over passenger dragging incident

United Airlines came under fire in April after a video went viral on social media showing a 69-year-old man being dragged-off the plane because it had been overbooked. A lot of hue and cry was created over the airline’s practice of bumping and how badly the passenger was treated.

David Dao was on a United Airlines flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport when he was asked by the airline crew to vacate his seat so that a crew member could be accommodated. When Dao refused, he was dragged off the flight and even suffered minor injuries. Airlines usually indulge in the practice of bumping, in which they overbook flights so that all their seats can be sold off in case some passengers don’t show up.

Despite all of that, it has been learnt that the US government has spared United Continental Holdings Inc.-United Airline’s parent company- and informed that it would not face any fines over the incident.

The Transportation Department notified United of its decision in a May 12 letter made public on Wednesday by passenger advocacy group Flyers Rights. A government official confirmed the authenticity of the letter, which said United did not comply with all aspects of the government’s rules on overselling seats.

United said in a statement on Wednesday “this incident should never have happened and we are implementing all of the improvements we announced in April, which put the customer at the center of everything we do.”

Paul Hudson — president of Flyers Rights — said for “the Department of Transportation to conclude that United Airlines’ conduct did not warrant an enforcement action is a dereliction of duty.” He said the Transportation Department should have held a public hearing after finding United violated government rules.

After this incident came to light, action against this practice started and now House and Senate bills are under consideration which includes new passenger protection clauses.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Sep 7 2017. Filed under Latest News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.