A video of a man, who appeared to be Asian, being dragged out of a United Airlines flight has created massive outcry on social media. The video which went viral on Monday shows a passenger being dragged by his hands by uniformed security officials on the 'overbooked' United Express flight 3411, headed from Chicago to Louisville in the US.
The shocking incident has caused backlash on social media with #BoycottUnitedAirlines trending and users cancelling tickets and vowing never to fly United again.
I will never fly #United #BoycottUnitedAirlines RT if you agree.
— Attilio Armeni (@AttilioArmeni) April 10, 2017
I will never fly @united airlines again after watching them forcibly remove that poor Doctor from his paid seat #BoycottUnitedAirlines pic.twitter.com/PvF5SWZApD
— Suresh Raavi (@vsraavi) April 11, 2017
Don't worry #United Airlines, you won't be overbooked again. #BoycottUnitedAirlines.
— Akhil Agarwal (@agarwalakhil83) April 11, 2017
Cancelled my United card today. #OscarMunoz
This is how @united will re-accommodate you if you don't volunteer to give up the seat you paid for. #BoycottUnitedAirlines #DontFlyUnited pic.twitter.com/1Vo1BGs5XH
— Layne Kushiyama (@laynekushiyama) April 10, 2017
@gardenofthegods @jonspaihts @united Their stock needs to crash and burn for this. Every other company in the country should #BoycottUnitedAirlines. No if's and's or but's.
— LstKgt #NeverTrump (@whiteknight111) April 10, 2017
The video, posted by one of the passengers on the flight, Audra Bridges, has already received 13 million views. In her Facebook post, she wrote: “We are on this flight. United airlines overbooked the flight. They randomly selected people to kick off so their crew could have a seat. This man is a doctor and has to be at the hospital in the morning. He did not want to get off.” The 31-second video shows three men speaking to a man on the plane. After a few seconds, they pull him out of his seat, and drag him down the aisle as he yells. Other passengers can also be seen protesting and screaming.
@united @FoxNews @CNN not a good way to treat a Doctor trying to get to work because they overbooked pic.twitter.com/sj9oHk94Ik
— Tyler Bridges (@Tyler_Bridges) April 9, 2017
As other video clips, including one which shows the manhandled doctor with a bleeding face, went viral, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz came out with an apology on Monday. In a message tweeted by the airlines's official handle, Munoz said: I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened.”
United CEO response to United Express Flight 3411. pic.twitter.com/rF5gNIvVd0
— United (@united) April 10, 2017
The apology, too, has been strongly criticised as the CEO only apologises for having to 're-accomodate' the passengers and not for how the passenger was treated.
Using "re-accomodate" to describe this abhorrent event is straight out of a dystopian future sci-fi nightmare. The CEO should resign. https://t.co/0hfNR2Q0bm
— Eric Butler (@codebutler) April 10, 2017
Shame on you @united crew for blindly following idiotic policies and "leader" #OscarMunoz for inadequate/insincere response #UnitedAirlines
— Ilona Salmons, M.A. (@IlonaSalmons) April 11, 2017
This is not the first time United Airlines has stirred up a social media storm. Last month, the airlines was in the news for barring two young girls from boarding a flight from Denver because they were wearing leggings. But the airlines later came out with an explanation that the girls were using flying passes which came under United Employees' flight benefits. Employees, or friends and family flying using these passes, have to adhere to a dress code, the airlines spokesperson had said.
