United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz issued a letter to employees saying the company takes “full responsibility” for the incident in which a passenger was forcibly removed and dragged from a flight that was said to be overbooked.
Munoz, who previously faulted the passenger for being “disruptive and belligerent,” told United employees on Tuesday that he was “disturbed by what happened.”
“I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard,” he wrote. “No one should ever be mistreated this way.”
United sparked a wave of backlash on Monday after a videos emerged showing officers dragging a passenger off a flight because it was reportedly overbooked. The man was injured while being taken off the plane. One of the officers involved in the event was placed on leave.
On Tuesday, a United spokesman told USA Today that while all 70 seats on the flight were filled, the plane was not overbooked, as was previously reported.
In his note, Munoz said United plans to review crew movement, policies for incentivizing volunteers, how the company handles overbooked flights and how it partners with law enforcement officials. United will share the results of the review by the end of April, he said.
“I have committed to our customers and our employees that we are going to fix what’s broken so this never happens again,” he said.
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