A federal agency has decided not to punish United Airlines over an incident in which a passenger was violently dragged off an overbooked flight, and which sparked a national debate over industry practices.
The US Department of Transportation said it found no evidence that United violated the civil rights of Dr David Dao, 69, and insufficient evidence that it violated rules regarding bumping passengers off overcrowded planes.
A department lawyer told United about the decision in a May 12 letter, but neither the agency nor the airline made the matter public.
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The US Department of Transportation won’tpunish United Airlines over an incident in which Dr David Dao, 69 (pictured bloodied, left) was violently dragged off an overbooked flight (right)
A passengers’ advocacy group, Flyers Rights, released the letter Wednesday after obtaining it through an open-records request.
A government official subsequently confirmed the authenticity of the letter, which said United did not comply with all aspects of the government’s rules on overselling seats, specifically by failing to provide Dr Dao and his family with a written denied boarding compensation (DBC) notice at the airport.
But the federal agency also concluded that ‘there was no evidence that United discriminated against any of the passengers who were involuntarily denied boarding on Flight 3411 based on their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or ancestry.’
On April 9, three airport security officers at Chicago´s O`Hare International Airport dragged Dao from United Express Flight 3411 to Louisville, in an incident that that was recorded by other passengers on video and shared on social media.
Graphic cellphone footage, which quickly went viral online, showed Dr Dao with blood on his face after the officers who were dragging him down the aisle dropped his head on an arm rest, leaving him with a concussion, a broken nose and two missing teeth.
Amid the outrage sparked by the incident, United said it bumped Dao and his family to make room for four employees who were traveling to staff a flight the following morning.
United said in a statement issued on Wednesday ‘this incident should never have happened and we are implementing all of the improvements we announced in April, which put the customer at the center of everything we do.’
The incident drew attention to the controversial practice of ‘bumping’ whereby airlines prevent passengers from boarding flights after deliberately overbooking them to ensure all seats are filled in case some passengers fail to show up.
United said it had an almost 90 per cent reduction of so-called involuntary denied boardings year-over-year since May 1.
Paul Hudson, president of Flyers Rights, said for ‘the Department of Transportation to conclude that United Airlines’ conduct did not warrant an enforcement action is a dereliction of duty.’
Damage control: United CEO Oscar Munoz apologized at a congressional hearing in May for the forcible removal of Dao (pictured)
He said the Transportation Department should have held a public hearing after finding United violated government rules.
The Transportation Department for months repeatedly refused to disclose the status of its investigation into Dao’s dragging.
‘No passenger should be treated like that,’ DOT President Elaine Chao told a Senate panel in July.
The government letter said United provided correct compensation for four out of five passengers on the Chicago flight but did not provide required, written oversales notices to Dao or his wife.
United CEO Oscar Munoz apologized at a congressional hearing in May for the forcible removal of Dao, with whom the airline later reached a settlement for an undisclosed sum.
House and Senate bills under consideration include new passenger protections and would ban the practice of bumping boarded airline passengers.
But the Transportation Department also said it found no proof that United used race, national origin, gender or religion criteria to discriminate against any of the passengers removed from the plane.
Dao, pictured with his large family in Kentucky in July, later reached a settlement for an undisclosed sum with United Airlines
Speaking to DailyMail.com in July in his first ever interview since the April incident, Dr Dao, a married father-of-five and a grandfather, said he was still feeling the aftereffects of the violence he had been subjected to, including trouble sleeping and difficulty concentrating.
He also talked about his biggest fear that the damage might be permanent and could spell the end of his medical career.
‘I’m in the process of recovery,’ he said at the time. ‘I cannot concentrate well, or sleep well, I need more time to recover, more rest from concussion. I need surgery to correct my nose, but first of all I worry about my brain.’
When asked if Munoz ever tried to get in touch with Dao, to personally apologize, the doctor sad: ‘No, no, no. I didn’t speak to anyone, not the CEO, not anyone from the company, only through my lawyer.’