Man dragged off plane: United Airlines to compensate all passengers

Passengers can take compensation in cash, travel credits or miles for United Express Flight 3411

United Airlines has announced to compensate all passengers on the flight in which a passenger was forcibly removed from his seat after refusing to give up his seat on an overbooked flight.

The decision comes as the United Airlines faced a social media outrage for dragging a man off its plane. The airlines spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said the passengers can take the compensation in cash, travel credits or miles for United Express Flight 3411. 

United Continental chief executive Oscar Munoz has said he would not resign, and he again apologised for forcibly removing a customer from an overbooked flight. 

Munoz reiterated his regret at the incident, which mushroomed into a global public relations disaster after video showing passenger David Dao, 69, his face bloodied, being dragged off the plane went viral. The passenger was forcibly removed from the Louisville, Kentucky-bound United flight 3411 at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

The incident has created a major publicity nightmare for United Airlines and the internet is showing no mercy as well.

Several passengers recorded the incident on their phones and posted videos on social mediashowing three Chicago Department of Aviation security officers dragging the man down the aisle by the arms and legs while other passengers shout in protest.

United was acting within their rights and going by the book, to a point, however, things took a darker turn when the situation turned physical. Munoz expressed regret for his widely-criticized initial response to the debacle in which he appeared to put partial blame for the incident on the 69-year-old passenger, saying he "defied" authorities and "compounded" the incident. 

United was asking passengers to give up their seats voluntarily for compensation as four crew members needed to get on the flight in order to work another one in Louisville or else that flight would be canceled, airline spokeswoman Maddie King said.

United employees explained the situation to the man several times and when he refused, they followed Department of Transportation protocol and called local law enforcement to forcibly remove him from the plane.

A passenger who witnessed the episode said that two officers tried to calmly talk the man out of his seat before a third approached him in an aggressive manner. The officer told him he had to get off the plane, and when he resisted, the officer grabbed him out of his seat

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) said it was reviewing whether United complied with overbook rules that require airlines to set guidelines on how passengers are denied boarding if they do not volunteer to give up their seats.

"While it is legal for airlines to involuntarily bump passengers from an oversold flight when there are not enough volunteers, it is the airline's responsibility to determine its own fair boarding priorities," a DOT spokesperson said in a statement.