United CEO says no one will be fired for dragging incident

Published 7:49 am Wednesday, April 19, 2017

The CEO of United Airlines says no one will be fired over the dragging of a man off a plane — including himself.

CEO Oscar Munoz said Tuesday that he takes full responsibility “for making this right,” and he promised more details later this month after United finishes a review of its policies on overbooked flights.

Company executives said it’s too soon to know if the incident is hurting ticket sales.

Email newsletter signup

United has been pummeled on social media — #BoycottUnited is a popular hashtag — and late-night television. Through Tuesday afternoon, its shares had fallen 4.3 percent since Flight 3411, wiping out nearly $1 billion in market value, although several other airline stocks declined in the same period.

After the market closed Monday, United reported a $96 million first-quarter profit, down 69 percent from a year earlier largely because of higher costs for fuel, labor and maintenance. The revenue picture was looking better — evidence was growing that after two years of falling average fares, United will be able to push prices higher this year.