United CEO: No One Will Be Fired Over Violent Incident With Passenger David Dao

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Apr 18, 2017 9:00PM

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz, who has come under scrutiny after a United passenger was violently dragged off a flight at O'Hare International Airport earlier this month, now says United is not firing any of the employees involved.

Munoz, speaking on a company earnings call Tuesday, said the incident showed "a system failure," at United, but that doesn't mean the company is considering firing anyone. As NBC reports:

"The buck stops here. And I'm sure there was lots of conjecture about me personally. Again, it was a system failure across various areas, so no, there was never a consideration for firing an employee."

Munoz also continued to apologize for the incident, in which Dao's lawyers claim Dao was bloodied, given a concussion, and lost two front teeth after law enforcement forced him off an overcrowded flight that he paid to be on:

"The incident on Flight 3411 has been a humbling learning experience for all of us here at United and for me in particular. In addition to apologizing to Dr. Dao, as well as all of the passengers aboard, I also want to apologize to all our customers. You can and should expect more from us and as CEO, I take full responsibility for making this right."

Three Chicago Aviation officers have been put on leave over the incident so far, and Dao's lawyers have said they may sue, but are not ready to yet. Unfortunately, authorities seem to be at a loss for whom to blame for the incident—and in that vacuum, victim-blaming responses to 69-year-old Dao have cropped up, even as viral videos of the incident appear to clearly show him being violently slammed into a passenger seat armrest and dragged across the cabin of his plane.