DALLAS — United Airlines says it will raise the limit — to $10,000 — on payments to customers who give up seats on oversold flights and will increase training for employees as it deals with fallout from the video of a passenger being violently dragged from his seat.
United is also vowing to reduce, but not eliminate, overbooking — selling more tickets than there are seats on the plane.
The airline made the promises Thursday as it released a report detailing mistakes that led to the April 9 incident on a United Express plane in Chicago.
United isn’t saying whether ticket sales have dropped since the removal of a 69-year-old passenger by three airport security officers, but the airline’s CEO admits it could be damaging.
“I breached public trust with this event and how we responded,” Oscar Munoz said. “People are upset, and I suspect that there are a lot of people potentially thinking of not flying us.”
To head off customer defections, United had already announced that it will no longer call police to remove passengers from overbooked flights, and will require airline crews traveling for work to check in sooner. On Thursday, it added several other new policies, including:
• Raising the limit on compensation to $10,000 for customers who give up their seats starting today. That is a maximum; it’s unclear how many, if any, passengers would see that much. The current limit is $1,350. Delta Air Lines this month raised its limit to $9,950.
• Sending displaced passengers or crew members to nearby airports, putting them on other airlines or arranging for car transportation to get them to their destinations.
• Giving gate agents annual refresher training in dealing with oversold flights. Munoz said he also wants agents and flight attendants to get more help de-escalating tense situations.
While not a factor in this month’s incident, United also said that starting in June it will pay customers $1,500 with no questions asked if the airline loses their bag.
For United, the timing of the viral video could hardly have been worse. The airline struggled badly after a 2010 merger with Continental, enduring several technology breakdowns that angered customers. In the past year, however, the airline has flown more on-time flights and lost fewer bags.
