United Airlines Customer Service: 10 Policy Changes Announced After David Dao Incident

After facing flak following the David Dao incident, United Airlines announced 10 policy changes, Thursday, in a bid to improve customer service. Under its latest policy, the airline will pay up to $10,000 to passengers who voluntarily give up their seats on overbooked flights.

On April 9, passenger Dao was violently dragged away from United’s Chicago-Louisville flight due to overbooking. According to this lawyer, Dao sustained “significant concussion,” a broken nose and lost two front teeth. The airline was severely criticized after the video of the incident was widely shared. United CEO Oscar Munoz issued an apology and said the airline will review its policies toward passengers.

In the latest policy changes, United vowed to limit law enforcement use — unless required for safety and security purposes. It said it would also adopt a "no questions asked" policy on permanently lost baggage and, from June, it would pay passengers $1,500 for the value of the bag and its contents, Sky News reported. The airline would also compensate its passengers with up to $10,000 for giving up their seats voluntarily on overbooked flights. Till now United pays up to $800 to customers who willingly gave their seats. Sky News noted the $10,000 offer came after Delta Air Lines increased its compensation to $9,950 to volunteers ready to get off their scheduled flights.

"Every customer deserves to be treated with the highest levels of service and the deepest sense of dignity and respect. Two weeks ago, we failed to meet that standard and we profoundly apologize. However, actions speak louder than words. Today, we are taking concrete, meaningful action to make things right and ensure nothing like this ever happens again," Munoz said in a statement.

"Our review shows that many things went wrong that day, but the headline is clear: our policies got in the way of our values and procedures interfered in doing what's right. This is a turning point for all of us at United and it signals a culture shift toward becoming a better, more customer-focused airline. Our customers should be at the center of everything we do and these changes are just the beginning of how we will earn back their trust," the CEO added.

On Wednesday, Munoz sent a written explanation about the Dao incident to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. He reiterated that the company was working on policies to make sure not to put its passengers, employees and partners in “impossible situations.” Apart from United, the Chicago Department of Aviation sent a letter to the committee saying it would help improve passengers’ experiences at the city airports.