United Continental Holdings Inc on Thursday announced its airline will offer $10,000 (more than Rs 6,40,000) in compensation to passengers bumped off overbooked flights, Reuters reported. The announcement came weeks after the airline faced outrage over a video showing a passenger being dragged off a plane by its security officers after he refused to give up his seat on an overbooked flight.
The announcement about increased compensation came after rival Delta Airlines offered up to $9,950 (approximately Rs 6,38,000) in such cases. United also said it will neither call law enforcement to ask passengers to leave overbooked flights, nor will it make the seated passengers involuntarily give up their seats. The airline, which usually oversells flights by less than 3%, also promised to reduce overbooking.
Moreover, the company pitched for annual training for staff to deal with difficult situations, BBC reported. United said starting June, it will adopt a “no questions asked” policy on lost baggage and pay customers $1,500 (more than Rs 96,000) for the value of the bag and the contents in it.
“This is a turning point for all of us at United and it signals a culture shift towards becoming a better, more customer-focused airline,” United Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz said in a statement according to AFP.
On April 10, a video showing David Dao being dragged out of his seat by Chicago policemen had sparked social media outrage. Dao had suffered a “significant concussion” and other injuries, including a broken nose, his lawyers had said. The flight was leaving Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for Louiseville, Kentucky. In a statement released after the incident, Munoz had claimed that authorities had been forced to act after Dao turned “disruptive and belligerent”.
In March, the airline had faced controversy for barring two girls from boarding a flight because they were wearing leggings.
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