United CEO Apologizes For Flight Fiasco, Promises To 'Fix What's Broken'

WASHINGTON — The CEO of United Airlines apologized again Tuesday for the company’s handling of a confrontation that ended with a man being forcibly dragged off a flight, promising to make things right.

In a statement to company employees, which was posted to United’s Twitter account, Oscar Munoz described Sunday’s incident in Chicago as “truly horrific.”

“Like you, I continue to be disturbed by what happened on this flight and I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard,” Munoz wrote. “No one should ever be mistreated this way.”

Munoz added that United takes “full responsibility” and would work to make things right.

The apology — Munoz’s second in as many days — responds to public outrage over viral videos showing Chicago airport security officers violently dragging a man off a United flight to Louisville. The airline drew additional criticism after Munoz said in a Monday email to employees that the passenger was acting “disruptive and belligerent” and airline agents had been “left with no choice” except to call security.

Munoz said Tuesday that the company would conduct a thorough review of its policies and communicate the results to the public by the end of the month.

“It’s never too late to do the right thing,” he said. “I have committed to our customers and our employees that we are going to fix what’s broken so this never happens again.”

“I promise you we will do better,” he added.

Initially, United said the flight had been overbooked. However, in an interview Tuesday with USA Today, a company spokesman walked back that statement, saying four passengers had to be removed to make room for crew members needed the following day in Louisville.

Read Munoz’s full statement here.