The CEO of United Airlines is blaming a “system failure” for the forcible removal of a passenger from an overbooked fight.
In a television interview, Oscar Munoz accepted responsibility for David Dao, a 69-year-old pulmonary specialist, being bloodied as security removed him from the flight when he refused to give up his seat, telling ABC News his airline did not have the proper procedures in place for management to exercise common sense.
“It was a system failure,” Munoz said. “We have not provided our frontline supervisors and managers and individuals with the proper procedures that would allow them to use their common sense.”
Munoz said he felt “shame” when he saw the video of Dao being dragged from flight United Flight 3411 and promised “this will never happen again.”
“We are not going to put a law enforcement official onto a plane to take them off … to remove a booked, paid, seated passenger. We can’t do that.”
He also admitted his initial reaction fell short of expressing the full extent of the shame he felt. “This is on me; I have to fix that, and I think that’s something we can do,” Munoz said.
