United Will Pay Up To $10K To Bump Passengers Instead Of Letting Them Get Dragged

By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Apr 27, 2017 3:20PM

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Two weeks after a video showing a bloodied passenger being forcibly dragged off a flight made headlines, United has announced that it has created new policies to avoid a repeat of that incident. The main change is that United will pay passengers up to $10,000 in travel certificates to encourage them to voluntarily take another flight.

United announced changes it would be making in its report of what happened when the company called on aviation law enforcement, which violently dragged Dr. David Dao off an O'Hare flight bound for Louisville on April 9. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, United was unapologetic for the actions its company took, but the report struck an apologetic tone: "We can never apologize enough for what occurred and for our initial response that followed. United Airlines takes full responsibility for what happened."

"Our review shows that many things went wrong that day," United CEO Oscar Munoz said in a statement. "Our policies got in the way of our values and procedures interfered in doing what's right."

The New York Times details some of their new policies (some of which were previously announced). United said that it will no longer ask passengers who have already boarded flights to give up their seats, unless there is a safety or security issue. They will not call on law enforcement to remove passengers over booking issues. On April 9, passengers on the fully booked flight were bumped for crew members who needed to go to Louisville. But from now on, the company will book crew member seats at least an hour before departing. It will also offer more training to employees.

The biggest change is around compensated passengers who get bumped from a flight. When passengers check in, they will have an opportunity to express just how willing they would be to give up a seat in exchange for money. Most airlines use a cap of $1,350, but that is changing in wake of the Dao incident—in which only $800 was offered to passengers. Delta previously announced it would offer up to $9,950 in compensation. United today upped their cap to a flat $10,000.

It's a rare situation in which a passenger would see that much money—but we're sure United would have paid a lot more than that to avoid the PR nightmare, in which a passenger bumped from a flight was left with broken teeth, a broken nose and a concussion.

Dao's attorney Thomas Demetrio commended United for its announced changes and released this statement:

"Both Dr. Dao and I applaud United for promptly addressing the many issues that have plagued passenger satisfaction in the arena of airline customer service. All of its policy changes announced today are passenger friendly and are simple, commonsense decisions on United’s part to help minimize the stress involved in the flying experience. Dr. Dao is proud, despite his ordeal, to have played a role in spearheading these announced changes. And going forward, he hopes United takes the lead in inspiring the entire airline industry to supply passengers the dignity, respect and fairness we all deserve."

But some point out that these big policy changes, which the company hails as a bid to "become a more customer-focused airline" aren't all that earth-shattering: