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.
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.