United to testify before Congress after violent incident
United Airlines boss Oscar Munoz could be getting a grilling at an upcoming US House Transportation Committee hearing.
The hearing will look at commercial airline consumer issues after the incident where a passenger was dragged off a flight to make room for crew members.
Per news.com.au, Justin Harclerode, a spokesman for the House panel, was unable to confirm who the committee planned to call as witnesses, or a date for the hearing.
According to the Reuters, United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said in a statement that the airline looked “forward to meeting with the committee and sharing with them the comprehensive review and the customer-focused actions we will communicate next week”.
However, McCarthy would not say who would testify for United.
The aggressive incident was captured on video by fellow passengers and went viral after a string of stuff ups on United’s part. A spate of suggested slogan changes also went viral with the hashtag #NewUnitedAirlinesMotto.
@United overbook #flight3411 and decided to force random passengers off the plane. Here’s how they did it: pic.twitter.com/QfefM8X2cW
— Jayse D. Anspach (@JayseDavid) April 10, 2017
Per news, the same committee requested that the Chicago Department of Aviation, which employs the officers who were responsible for the treatment of the passenger, respond to a separate list of queries by Thursday as well.
According to the passenger, Dr David Dao, and his lawyer, Dao suffered a significant concussion, broken nose and lost two front teeth in the incident.
To add insult to injury (literally) his luggage was returned to the wrong address after the flight departed, with his luggage still onboard.
Dao’s lawyer believes he’s likely to sue the airline over the debacle.
In the wake of the disaster, United has vowed to no longer use police to remove passengers from overbooked flights, and while Munoz has been careful not to promise to stop overbooking, a review into the policies is allegedly underway.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
congress dr david dao oscar munoz united airlinesLatest News
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