On This Day: Lawyer says airline had no right, after man dragged off airplane; rules amended - Apr. 9, 2017

(edited from Wikipedia)
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2017 United Express passenger removal

On April 9, 2017, at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, four paying customers were selected to be involuntarily deplaned from United Express Flight 3411 to make room for four deadheading employees. One of these passengers was David Dao, 69, a Vietnamese-American who was injured when he was forcefully removed from the flight by Chicago Department of Aviation security officers. Dao, a pulmonologist, refused to leave his seat when directed because he needed to see patients the following day. In the process of removing him, the security officers struck his face against an armrest, then dragged him - bloodied, bruised, and unconscious – by his arms down the aircraft aisle, past rows of onlooking passengers.

Dao reached an "amicable" settlement with United on April 27, 2017, though its terms were not publicly announced.

Video of the incident recorded by passengers went viral on social media, resulting in anger over the use of force shown. Politicians expressed concern and called for an official investigation.

Video footage from passengers who remained on the aircraft throughout the incident was widely shared and was picked up by mainstream media agencies. One such video was shared 87,000 times and viewed 6.8 million times in less than a day.

Third-party legal commentary

Early reports and United Airlines initially characterized the incident as a consequence of overbooking, leading some experts to question whether that was the case. John Banzhaf, a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, states that United was "citing the wrong federal rule to justify its illegal request to force a passenger already boarded and seated to disembark," since the regulation cited only covers denial of boarding, and not removing a passenger after boarding.

While United has asserted a right to remove passengers after boarding, none of the reasons for doing so specified in the airline's contract of carriage applied in this situation. One attorney pointedly stated United "had absolutely no right to remove that man from the airplane" and described the incident as "assault and battery."

Chicago City Council alderman Michael Zalewski questioned whether the Chicago Airport Police even had the legal authority to enter the aircraft.

[Rules amended]

On January 13, 2021, the United States Department of Transportation amended its rules, forbidding involuntarily bumping from an overbooked flight after boarding starting on April 21.

Similar incidents

A passenger on a United Airlines flight who bought a full-price first-class ticket from Lihue to Los Angeles was told to get off the plane because "they needed the seat for somebody more important." According to the passenger, the gate agent stated "We have a priority list, and you're at the bottom of it."

After paying approximately $1,000 for a seat for her two-year-old child, a woman was forced to hold the child on her lap for over three hours when United Airlines re-sold the child's seat to a standby passenger. The passenger appealed to the flight attendant, who rudely shrugged her shoulders and told her in an aggressive tone that the flight was full. The passenger was afraid to push the issue because of what had happened to Dao. When she flew back to Hawaii, United Airlines upgraded her to business class, provided access to the United lounge at the airport and gave her a lei.

A family on a Delta Air Lines flight was removed from an aircraft and threatened with jail time and the loss of custody of their children for not surrendering a seat that they had originally purchased for their teenage son, who was not on the flight, but instead used for their 2-year-old child. After a video recording of the incident went viral, Delta offered an apology and compensation to the family.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_Express_passenger_removal

Aviation Attorney Believes United Airlines Violated Its Own Contract
April 11, 2017

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – United Airlines says it needed more seats to fly four crew members to Louisville and that is why they removed a passenger from their flight.

Aviation attorney Arthur Wolk says he read all 45 pages of United's Contract of Carriage and he believes the airline violated its own contract.

"I want to assure United Airlines they had absolutely no right to remove that man from the airplane. Absolutely no right to forcibly remove him from an airplane. They're in trouble."

According to Wolk, airlines can deny you a seat, but once you're on board that's a different story.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/aviation-attorney-on-united/

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