United Continental Holdings Inc will offer as much as US$10,000 to passengers who voluntarily give up their seats on oversold flights, one of 10 changes the airline is adopting after a customer was dragged off a plane by security officers.
The carrier is also to reduce the overbooking of flights and refrain from calling in law enforcement officials unless safety and security are at risk, the company yesterday said in statement.
United issued the changes more than two weeks after the forcible removal of David Dao, a 69-year-old passenger who refused to surrender his seat, by Chicago Department of Aviation officials.
Rigid policies for handling cases where passengers must be denied boarding “got in the way of our values,” United chief executive officer Oscar Munoz said in the statement.
The airline is still dealing with brand damage and other fallout from the April 9 incident, and faced another round of negative headlines on Wednesday when a giant rabbit died as it awaited a connecting flight after arriving in Chicago from London on United.
It is striving to become a “better, more customer-focused airline” to win back the public’s trust after a worldwide furor over Dao’s treatment, and calls from some politicians to crack down on the industry with tougher rules and legislation, the company said.
“Every customer deserves to be treated with the highest levels of service and the deepest sense of dignity and respect,” Munoz said. “Two weeks ago, we failed to meet that standard and we profoundly apologize.”
The United board canceled Munoz’s expected elevation to chairman next year and tied compensation more closely to customer service last week.
The company’s 10 policy changes are being rolled out this year, with some already in place.
The US$10,000 maximum payout was to take effect yesterday. Until now, gate agents were only allowed to offer passengers as much as US$500, while managers could go as high as US$1,350.
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