As you're probably already aware, on Sunday authorities were filmed violently dragging an elderly Asian man, later confirmed to be a doctor, out of his seat aboard a United Airlines flight.
Dr David Dao, 69, was snatched from his seat, and his limp body pulled from the passenger cabin of United Airlines Flight 3411t at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on Sunday
The incident came when the flight was overbooked and no passengers chose to voluntarily exit the plane. Dr Dao is currently recovering from the incident in a Chicago hospital.
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Now, after United Airlines CEO, Oscar Munoz sent out a memo to staff that appeared to support the men who removed Dr Dao by describing him as 'disruptive and belligerent', it has emerged that shares in United Continental Holdings Inc. fell 2.6% in Tuesday morning trading,
Credit: Twitter/Tyler Bridges
The fall in stock has wiped $600 million off the airline's market cap at the time of writing.
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The company's market cap was $22.5 billion as of Monday's close, according to FactSet data.
Oscar Munoz's memo read in full: "Dear Team, Like you, I was upset to see and hear about what happened last night aboard United Express Flight 3411 headed from Chicago to Louisville.
"While the facts and circumstances are still evolving, especially with respect to why this customer defied Chicago Aviation Security Officers the way he did, to give you a clearer picture of what transpired, I've included below a recap from the preliminary reports filed by our employees.
"As you will read, this situation was unfortunately compounded when one of the passengers we politely asked to deplane refused and it became necessary to contact Chicago Aviation Security Officers to help. Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this.
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"While I deeply regret this situation arose, I also emphatically stand behind all of you, and I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond to ensure we fly right. I do, however, believe there are lessons we can learn from this experience, and we are taking a close look at the circumstances surrounding this incident.
"Treating our customers and each other with respect and dignity is at the core of who we are, and we must always remember this no matter how challenging the situation."
Credit: Instagram/Christine Dao Gladman
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However, Audra Bridges, who witnessed the incident, wrote on Facebook: "Please share this video. We are on this flight. United airlines overbooked the flight. They randomly selected people to kick off so their standby 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. We are all shaky and so disgusted. #unitedairways"
The airline had overbooked the flight and randomly selected passengers to get off so that they could put four members of their crew on in their place.
Dr Dao says he didn't want to leave the plane because he had patients to treat the following morning.
Topics: United Airlines
