On Sunday, a United Airlines flight was supposed to leave Chicago O’Hare for Louisville but was overbooked, and the airline decided to remedy this by forcing people off the flight.
The video of what happened has since gone viral.
Apparently, the airline had asked for volunteers for people to stay behind, offering compensation, but when no one came forward, they chose four passengers. Three of them left without incident, but the fourth, who a few people on social media identified as a doctor who had appointments with patients on Monday, though that has not been confirmed, refused to leave his seat.
Eventually, police were called, and the man was forcibly removed from his seat. In the video, he can be seen with his glasses askew as he is dragged away, with his shirt coming up over his stomach.
— Black pilots allege racial discrimination at United Airlines —
#flythefriendlyskies @united no words. This poor man!! pic.twitter.com/rn0rbeckwT
— Kaylyn Davis (@kaylyn_davis) April 10, 2017
Charlie Hobart, a United spokesman, said in a telephone interview on Monday that “we had asked several times, politely” for the man to leave before calling the police.
However, since the video went viral, bringing massive backlash and outrage, United has put forward an apology.
Oscar Munoz, the chief executive of United Airlines, called the episode “an upsetting event to all of us here at United.”
“I apologize for having to re-accomodate these customers,” he said. “Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.”
@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
https://twitter.com/Tyler_Bridges/status/851214160042106880
@united @CNN @FoxNews @WHAS11 Man forcibly removed from plane somehow gets back on still bloody from being removed pic.twitter.com/njS3nC0pDl
— Tyler Bridges (@Tyler_Bridges) April 10, 2017