“The last thing a paying airline passenger should expect is a physical altercation with law enforcement personnel after boarding, especially one<br />that could likely have been avoided,” the four top leaders of the Senate commerce committee said in a letter on Tuesday to Mr. Munoz.<br />There are “countless metrics you could look at to justify the cost of a higher compensation offer for those passengers on<br />that plane,” said Mr. Robinson-Leon, pointing to the price of crisis management, the loss in stock value, the potential for lost business and even the time of Mr. Munoz, who makes at least $1.2 million a year.<br />The Department of Transportation requires airlines to give involuntarily bumped passengers “a written statement describing their rights<br />and explaining how the carrier decides who gets on an oversold flight and who doesn’t,” according to its consumer guide.<br />United Airlines on Tuesday faced a spiraling crisis from videos showing a passenger being dragged off an<br />airplane, as consumers threatened a boycott of the airline and lawmakers called for an investigation.<br />United’s website says that when the airline cannot find volunteers, it will “deny boarding to passengers in<br />accordance with our written policy on boarding priority.” Ms. McCarthy would not share the written policy.<br />“It’s fair to say that if PR Week was choosing its Communicator of the Year now, we<br />would not be awarding it to Oscar Munoz,” the trade publication said on Tuesday.<br />United, on Tuesday, appeared to backtrack from prior statements<br />that the flight with Dr. Dao aboard — heading from O’Hare in Chicago to Louisville, Ky. — was overbooked.
