The Latest: United to pay compensation to plane passengers
CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the removal of a passenger who was dragged off a United Express flight in Chicago (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
United says passengers on United Express Flight 3411 are getting compensation equal to the cost of their tickets.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said Wednesday that the passengers can take the compensation in cash, travel credits or miles.
Flight 3411 on Sunday night from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, was sold out and passengers were in their seats when the airline said it needed to find room for four crew members who were commuting to their next assignment, a United Express flight in Louisville.
A 69-year-old passenger who did not want to give up his seat wound up being dragged off the plane by security officers. United CEO Oscar Munoz has apologized for the incident, and he vowed Wednesday that it will never happen again.
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4 p.m.
Two more airport police officers involved in dragging a passenger off a United Express flight at Chicago's O'Hare Airport have been placed on leave.
The announcement Wednesday from the city's Aviation Department comes two days after another officer involved in the Sunday night confrontation was put on leave.
The department said it is continuing its investigation.
Dr. David Dao was forcibly removed from a full flight after refusing to relinquish his seat. On Thursday, the city's aviation commissioner is expected to address a city council committee about the incident.
Video of the incident has been shown around the world. The head of United's parent company has scrambled to contain the damage to the carrier's reputation.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Dao took a step toward legal action Wednesday by filing court papers asking the Cook County court to preserve reports and other material related to the incident.
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4 p.m.
Attorneys representing a man who was dragged off a United Express flight in Chicago and a member of the man's family are set to talk about the incident on Thursday.
In a news release, the attorneys say they plan to talk to the media and that they will be accompanied by a relative of Dr. David Dao.
No lawsuit has been filed, but the legal team has already taken a move in that direction by filing court papers asking that the airline and the city preserve evidence in the case.
Dao was on a full jet at O'Hare Airport that was scheduled to fly to Louisville, Kentucky, on Sunday night when he and three other passengers were ordered off to make room for some employees of a partner airline. The others did as they were told, but Dao refused and was yanked out of his seat and dragged off the plane by airport security.
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3 p.m.
Chicago attorneys for a Kentucky doctor dragged off a United Express flight want the airline and the city of Chicago to preserve evidence in the case.
David Dao's lawyers on Wednesday made the first moves toward a lawsuit with an emergency filing in Cook County court. They said they want to make sure the city and the airline preserve surveillance video showing passengers boarding Sunday's Flight 3411 to Louisville at O'Hare International Airport.
The attorneys want cockpit voice recordings, passenger and employee and crew lists, incident reports and the city Aviation Department's personnel reports for the police who removed Dao from the plane. The attorneys also want United's protocol for removing passengers from commercial aircraft.
A video of Dao being pulled from his seat after he refused to leave the full plane has been seen around the world.
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11 a.m.
A Chicago alderman says representatives from United Airlines and the city Aviation Department have been summoned by his committee to answer questions about a passenger who was dragged off a jet at O'Hare Airport.
Alderman Mike Zalewski says he does not know who will represent the airline before the city council's Aviation Committee. But the CEO of United's parent company, Oscar Munoz, has been notified of the hearing scheduled for Thursday.
Chicago Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans will also speak.
A video of the man being pulled from his seat after he refused to leave the full plane has been seen around the world and resulted in harsh criticism for United and Aviation Department police.
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7:50 a.m.
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz says he felt "ashamed" watching video of a passenger being dragged off a United Express flight and has promised to review the airline's passenger removal policy.
In an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" aired Wednesday, Munoz apologized to Dr. David Dao of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, his family and the other passengers who witnessed him being forcibly removed from the plane.
Munoz vowed this "will never happen again on a United flight" and that law enforcement won't be involved in future.
Munoz called the embarrassment a "system failure," saying United will review its policies for seeking volunteers to give up their seats when a flight is full. United was trying to find seats for four employees, meaning four passengers had to deplane.
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12:30 a.m.
The CEO of United Airlines' parent company is pledging to review policies after a passenger was dragged off a full fight in Chicago.
In his most contrite apology yet, Oscar Munoz said Tuesday that no one should be mistreated that way. He described the removal by airport police as "truly horrific."
Munoz also said the company would reassess policies for seeking volunteers to give up their seats, for handling oversold flights and for partnering with airport authorities.
Meanwhile, details emerged about the passenger, who was identified as 69-year-old Kentucky physician David Dao.
The doctor was seen on cellphone videos recorded by other passengers at O'Hare Airport. He was convicted more than a decade ago of felony charges involving his prescribing of drugs and spent years trying to regain his license.
