United, Aviation Department Both Miss Senate's Deadline On Removal Fiasco
By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 21, 2017 7:32PM
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When you fail one assignment, it's generally not the best look to ask for an extension on the next. But here we are. Neither United Airlines nor the Chicago Department of Aviation were able to meet a deadline to explain to Senators the uber-controversial, violent removal of passenger Dr. David Dao the Sunday before last.
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Bill Nelson (D-FL)—both high-ranking members of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation—sounded rather let down after lawmakers received letters on Thursday from United and the aviation department stating that they could not meet the April 20 deadline.
Sens. Thune and Nelson wrote in a joint statement on Friday:
"We’re disappointed that neither United Airlines nor the Chicago Department of Aviation has yet provided substantive answers to the straightforward questions we asked about the forcible removal of a passenger on April 9, 2017. Getting answers for the public about what happened and what can be done to prevent such an incident from happening again is a priority for the members of our committee. We find any further delay in getting necessary answers unacceptable."
The statement was also signed by Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
United told the Senate—who issued a demand for more information back on April, two days after the infamous incident—that they will have they will submit a full response by April 27. The Chicago Department of Aviation told lawmakers they'd have theirs in by April 26.
Embattled United CEO Oscar Munoz said his review would be thorough and wide-ranging. "This includes examining how we move our crews, incentivize customer volunteers in these situations, handle oversold situations and work with airport authorities and local law enforcement moving forward,” Munoz said in his letter, according to USA Today.
Dao, a Kentucky doctor, was bloodied and dragged down the aisle of a United plane after he refused to give up his paid seat for airline staff on the fully booked flight. He suffered a broken nose and concussion and lost two front teeth, according to his lawyer. Answers provided by both aviation and United personnel at an emergency City Council hearing last Thursday were alternately murky and discouraging.
Munoz—who, you'll recall, "re-accommodated" the incident further into fiasco territory for with a brutally botched initial response— said on Tuesday that no one would be fired in relation to the deplaning.