Congress to hold two airline hearings after passenger dragging

WASHINGTON – As Congress prepares for a pair of hearings about airline customer service, United Airlines and the Chicago aviation department detailed what led to a passenger being dragged off a flight April 9.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has a hearing Tuesday featuring United CEO Oscar Munoz. Other witnesses are executives from Alaska, American and Southwest airline. A consultant from Consumers Union also is expected.

In addition, the Senate Transportation subcommittee on aviation has a hearing Thursday. That committee got written replies Wednesday detailing what led to Chicago aviation police dragging passenger David Dao off United Express flight 3411, to make room for crew members.

Several lawmakers have proposed legislation in the aftermath of the incident, to potentially bar airlines from overbooking flights or to prevent airlines from removing a passenger who is seated aboard a plane.

Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman, said Monday the industry is studying policy changes about compensating passengers. Spicer withheld judgment on whether President Trump would support legislation dealing with airlines.

"Once there was a piece of legislation, then we could — we would have an opportunity to weigh in on that," Spicer said.

Dao, who suffered a concussion and lost two teeth in the incident, has reached a settlement with the airline, according to his lawyer.

United earlier apologized to Dao and refunded fares to other passengers on the flight. United also adopted 10 policy changes, including no longer asking police to remove passengers from flights for reasons other than safety or security.

United will also require crews needing transportation to get to the gate 60 minutes before departure, to avoid removing passengers who have already boarded. United doesn’t keep statistics on how many passengers were bumped from a flight after being seated.

Munoz has said more changes are in the works.

Changes have already spread beyond United. Southwest announced Thursday it won’t overbook flights any more.

Selling more seats than are on planes is a routine industry practice to keep planes full despite last-minute changes in travel plans. But occasionally that leads to airlines denying boarding to passengers on full flights.

The dozen largest airlines denied boarding to an average of about six passengers for every 100,000 transported last year. But among those overbookings, 10 times more passengers agreed to postpone a flight in exchange for compensation than those who were involuntarily denied boarding.

Delta Air Lines, which promotes one of the lowest rates of involuntarily denying boarding, has raised its limit to $9,950 on offers to persuade passengers to take a later flight. And United raised its cap to $10,000.

In written replies to the Senate, United explained:

♦ The April 9 flight from Chicago O’Hare to Louisville initially was oversold by one passenger, who was involuntarily denied boarding.

♦ About the time the plane loaded, four crew members arrived needing to catch the flight in order to staff a 6:55 a.m. flight with 70 passengers from Louisville to Newark the next morning. The crew members had been scheduled on a 2:55 p.m. flight to Louisville, but that plane suffered mechanical problems.

♦ Waiting for a later flight could have prevented the required rest flight attendants between shifts, again jeopardizing the morning flight. Cancelling that morning flight would have had a significant impact for the 70 passengers and potentially disrupted travel for other passengers down the line, according to United. Driving the crew the 300 miles would have also risked enough rest for the crew, according to United.

♦ United offered $1,000 in travel certificates, with a hotel room and meals, to Flight 3411 passengers who voluntarily agreed to take a later flight. But passengers were reluctant because the next open seats weren’t until a flight the next afternoon.

♦ United chooses who will be denied boarding using a variety of factors, including frequent-flier status, fare class and itinerary. Fare class and domestic itineraries were what determined the choices on Flight 3411.

♦ Two passengers who were involuntarily denied boarding on the flight left the aircraft without incident. One of these bumped passengers actually got to Louisville that night on the flight with the mechanical delay that the attendants had abandoned.

♦ The Chicago department of aviation is investigating the incident and suspended four officers involved in removing Dao from the flight. The city’s inspector general is also investigating.

♦ The city said someone from the airline called the aviation police to report that two passengers refused to leave the plane for an overbooking. The city submitted its aviation police field manual, which outlined when the use of force is justified.