Over the weekend, a United Airlines flight was overbooked by four seats. After letting everyone board, the attendants announced that the flight would be cancelled if the space was not cleared. Dr. David Dao and his wife initially volunteered to take the next flight until they were informed it was the next day at 2:30 pm. Dao, being a doctor, claimed that it was imperative he returned to work the following morning so he could see and treat his patients. The airline then called security to have him forcibly removed, where he was violently dragged down the pathway, hitting his head and splitting his lip on an armrest amid protesting passengers. The incident has since received much attention and United Airlines has lost over $1 billion in stock. People have also shown their disgust by cutting up their cards. The CEO released a statement claiming that he was sorry about the incident but stands behind his employees.
While the practice of overbooking is legal, the way in which it was handled was despicable. I cannot believe that the CEO issued such a mild apology when there is video footage of Dr. Dao being dragged down the aisle with a bloody lip. Dao claims he was being profiled as a chinese man, which originates from an old tension that arose when there was a huge influx of chinese immigration leading to immigration quotas against them. I applaud the people's reaction to the situation, as it is a non violent way to show both support for Dao and discourage United. Hopefully the situation is resolved soon.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/11/travel/united-customer-dragged-off-overbooked-flight/index.html
That's horrible, people should really have more curtsy and kindness with flight conditions and how to treat people in tight spaces.
ReplyDeletethis could have been handled so much better
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