There were two United Airlines related announcements, today...

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

First Announcement: "We at United Airlines, have reached an out-of-court financial settlement with Dr. David Dao, today".

Second Announcement; "I, David Dao, wish to announce my immediate retirement from my medical practice, and shall persue personal goals and endevours..."

End of announcements....

[Chock 17,769]

Roughly translates to:

United press relead: We've given Dr Dao, 15 million quid and he is off now to buy a nice Island and a seaplane.

Dr Dao press release: Yup, spot on.

 

[Alan_A 1,650]

There's also a third one:

Quote

The agreement comes on the same day that United released the results of an internal investigation that found several mistakes were made before, during and after Dao was dragged off the April 9 flight, including calling in law enforcement to resolve an incident that was neither a safety nor security issue. The horrifying scene was caught on video and viewed by millions of people worldwide.

In other words - we're giving money to Dr. Dao, as a result of which he won't say anything about us again, and Tom Demetrio won't destroy us in court, and we can put a floor under this and get on with putting our house in order.

Hard to argue with it, considering the alternatives.

Put another way - United makes a smart decision for a change.

[HiFlyer 9,332]

3 minutes ago, Alan_A said:

There's also a third one:

In other words - we're giving money to Dr. Dao, as a result of which he won't say anything about us again, and Tom Demetrio won't destroy us in court, and we can put a floor under this and get on with putting our house in order.

Hard to argue with it, considering the alternatives.

Put another way - United makes a smart decision for a change.

After what happened to that poor bunny, they didn't need to be dealing with Dr. Dao, as well.

There is already enough lasting damage.

[Murmur 3,940]

10 minutes ago, Alan_A said:

United released the results of an internal investigation that found several mistakes were made before, during and after Dao was dragged off the April 9 flight, including calling in law enforcement to resolve an incident that was neither a safety nor security issue.

What??? Weren't expert captains explaining to us uninformed folks that they would have removed dr. Dao off their plane for being a safety threat?

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

To be honest after such public scrutiny and his age no surprise he isn't returning to work. I wish him happy retirement. 

I will still fly United, airlines that big will always have issues but overall the issues are minuscule compared to the millions that they serve. 

Hopefully the cops get cleared after all this mess

[lownslo 590]

Well... Kaching!!  United finally did something right in this fiasco (settle fast).  Hope they paid the Dr. a princely sum... will make airlines show some level of respect for their customers (well, for a day or so ).

 

19 minutes ago, ytzpilot said:

Hopefully the cops get cleared after all this mess

 

Nope, hope they get their feet held to the fire as well... they should have never involved themselves in the situation.  It was a civil matter from the get-go.  If they want lessons in the law, they can contact the FBI (who refused to arrest the Delta passenger in Atlanta last week).

Regards,

Greg

[Manny 1,293]

Good for the Doctor! He didn't plan this nor asked for this.

[ahsmatt7 1,199]

35 minutes ago, ytzpilot said:

To be honest after such public scrutiny and his age no surprise he isn't returning to work. I wish him happy retirement. 

I will still fly United, airlines that big will always have issues but overall the issues are minuscule compared to the millions that they serve. 

Hopefully the cops get cleared after all this mess

Why should the cops be cleared? Last time I checked, they were the ones that did the dirty work.

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

24 minutes ago, ahsmatt7 said:

Why should the cops be cleared? Last time I checked, they were the ones that did the dirty work.

I see overbooking and getting bumped a heated issue for years that has reached boiling point, something minor was going to set this off. Airlines created the situation, flying public had enough of it, officers were called into what is tight confined space to deal with an issue that really wasn't theirs in the first place.

They should have walked away saying it was a civil dispute as it was. People reacting in a tight space isn't going to have a good outcome.  All three parties acted badly but two out of the three have had a good outcome now, looks like the cop may be the fall guy after all. I just don't think his career should be ruined because of this. 

[KevinAu 441]

What's wrong with a little bit of accountability?

[lownslo 590]

20 minutes ago, ytzpilot said:

I just don't think his career should be ruined because of this. 

At the 11-12 second point in this video, James Long (the fellow who pulls Dr Dao from his seat) is seen slamming Dao's head into the arm rest. 

This wasn't "just removing the passenger from his seat".  This was clearly assault and battery (given that the Chicago Airport Security personnel shouldn't have involved themselves in the first place).  Chicago and their employees need to buy Dr. Dao another island just so they'll learn when to step into a situation... and when not to.  These lawsuits are all the consumer has left to hold municipalities and mega-corps accountable for their actions.

Greg

 

[Alan_A 1,650]

I'm all for holding the cops (or, more accurately, "cops") accountable.  They were part of the chain of causation.  They had options to make the situation better and instead made it worse.

Meanwhile - sorry, long post, but here's the full text of the CEO letter that was e-mailed tonight to United Mileage Plus members.  Interesting that they're blaming "procedures [that] got in the way of our employees doing what they know is right," which was sort of my sense of things at the start.
 
Over to CEO Munoz...
 

Quote

 

Dear XXXXXXX,

Each flight you take with us represents an important promise we make to you, our customer. It's not simply that we make sure you reach your destination safely and on time, but also that you will be treated with the highest level of service and the deepest sense of dignity and respect.

Earlier this month, we broke that trust when a passenger was forcibly removed from one of our planes. We can never say we are sorry enough for what occurred, but we also know meaningful actions will speak louder than words.

For the past several weeks, we have been urgently working to answer two questions: How did this happen, and how can we do our best to ensure this never happens again?

It happened because our corporate policies were placed ahead of our shared values. Our procedures got in the way of our employees doing what they know is right.

Fixing that problem starts now with changing how we fly, serve and respect our customers. This is a turning point for all of us here at United – and as CEO, it's my responsibility to make sure that we learn from this experience and redouble our efforts to put our customers at the center of everything we do.

That’s why we announced that we will no longer ask law enforcement to remove customers from a flight and customers will not be required to give up their seat once on board – except in matters of safety or security.

We also know that despite our best efforts, when things don’t go the way they should, we need to be there for you to make things right. There are several new ways we’re going to do just that.

We will increase incentives for voluntary rebooking up to $10,000 and will be eliminating the red tape on permanently lost bags with a new "no-questions-asked" $1,500 reimbursement policy. We will also be rolling out a new app for our employees that will enable them to provide on-the-spot goodwill gestures in the form of miles, travel credit and other amenities when your experience with us misses the mark. You can learn more about these commitments and many other changes at hub.united.com.

While these actions are important, I have found myself reflecting more broadly on the role we play and the responsibilities we have to you and the communities we serve.

I believe we must go further in redefining what United's corporate citizenship looks like in our society. You can and ought to expect more from us, and we intend to live up to those higher expectations in the way we embody social responsibility and civic leadership everywhere we operate. I hope you will see that pledge express itself in our actions going forward, of which these initial, though important, changes are merely a first step.

Our goal should be nothing less than to make you truly proud to say, "I fly United."

Ultimately, the measure of our success is your satisfaction and the past several weeks have moved us to go further than ever before in elevating your experience with us. I know our 87,000 employees have taken this message to heart, and they are as energized as ever to fulfill our promise to serve you better with each flight and earn the trust you’ve given us.

We are working harder than ever for the privilege to serve you and I know we will be stronger, better and the customer-focused airline you expect and deserve.

With Great Gratitude,

Oscar Munoz
CEO
United Airlines

 

 

[lownslo 590]

This is a step toward accountability: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chicago-ohare-security-chief-fired-weeks-united-flub-47080152

Greg

[HiFlyer 9,332]

"Acceptable fall guys have been selected. Pushing the eject button in 3.....2......"