As a United Airlines flight waited to depart from Chicago's O’Hare Airport, police officers were seen grabbing the screaming man from a window seat, pulling him across the armrest and dragging him down the aisle by his arms.
The airline was trying to make room for four of its employees on the Sunday evening flight to Louisville, Kentucky.
Passenger Audra D Bridges posted the video on Facebook. Her husband, Tyler Bridges, said United offered $US400 and then $US800 in vouchers and a hotel stay for volunteers to give up their seats.
When no one volunteered to de-board, the managers announced that they would de-board passengers after having a computer pick them randomly. Their first target, an Asian doctor, refused to get off the plane. He said he had patients waiting for him.
The managers then took the route which they say was the only “available option” and physically dragged him out, injuring him and leaving his mouth bloody.
Twitter was aghast. Here’s what some flyers and non-flyers had to say:
A World In Which Ravindra Gaikwad Finds the Right Airline For Him
United CEO Oscar Munoz shot off a letter to his employees but did not apologise for the way the passenger was handled. He claimed that the airline employees followed “standard procedure” while dealing with the situation and that the passenger was being “disruptive and belligerent”.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)