Rahm Deflects On United's Response, Jabs At Rivals Who Wanted To Arm Aviation Officers
By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 17, 2017 10:17PM
Getty Images / Photo: Scott Olson
Mayor Rahm Emanuel spoke publicly for the first time about on Monday about the violent removal of a United passenger from a flight at O'Hare International Airport last Sunday, but he didn't come down hard on either the airline or the Chicago Department of Aviation—even as he got a not-so-subtle dig at previous efforts to arm aviation officers.
Rahm, who was speaking on the very unrelated matter of the kickoff of street-paving season, appeared careful to not step on the toes of Ginger Evans, commissioner of the Aviation Department, as the department investigates the incident—which, you might recall, ignited an international firestorm and public-relations horror show when Dr. David Dao was violently dragged down the aisle of a fully booked plane after he refused to be bumped in order to make room for airline staff.
"[Evans] is in the middle, right now, of a total top-to-bottom review that in the next two to three weeks should be out, and I don't want to prejudge that effort," he said, according to the Tribune. They city is also staring down likely litigation, as the bill of discovery filed by Dao's attorneys to preserve key materials surrounding the incident was granted on Monday morning. So, yes, another reason for tactful evasion.
The Tribune reports that Rahm applauded Evans' decision to place three aviation officers on leave, but he didn't say if he believed such the program as a whole, which is not part of the Chicago Police Department, should be scrapped. He couldn't resist, however, at least one told-you-so political jab on the matter (via the Trib): "There have been some questions by some people over the last couple years about allowing those aviation officers to carry a gun. As you know, my administration has opposed that, and I think it's pretty clear that's wrong."
Seemingly fully intent on not stirring any kind of friction with an economic driver that's already been summarily blasted, Rahm when given a lane to comment on United's handling reportedly replied, "we have our work ahead of us, and my focus is to make sure what we do at Aviation is the correct thing to do." Deflection achieved.
At a City Council hearing on Thursday, both United and the Aviation department left behind them a mile-long trail of murk, providing either cloudy answers or deeply discouraging ones to a variety of important questions related to Dao's dragging. Issues of use of force, whether the matter was security-based or customer-service-related, and why aviation officers sported "police" on their jackets remain open topics.