United Airlines said on Thursday that it would offer passengers who volunteered to forfeit their seats on overbooked flights up to 10,000 dollars .
United said that the offer was part of the carrier’s efforts to repair the damage from rough removal of a passenger.
The offer came after rival Delta outlined plans to offer up to 9,950 dollars in such cases.
United also said it would take actions to reduce overbooking of flights and improve customer satisfaction.
“Our goal is to reduce incidents of involuntary denial of boarding to as close to zero as possible, and become a more customer-focused airline,” the carrier said in the statement.
United had spent the last two weeks embroiled in controversy after videos recorded by passengers showed David Dao, 69, yanked from his seat aboard a Louisville, Kentucky-bound United flight before takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
The video which went viral showed that Dao was yanked to make room for crew members.
Dao lost two front teeth in the scuffle, incurred a concussion and broke his nose, according to his lawyer, who said that he might sue the airline.
United said it would no longer call law enforcement to deny passengers boarding, nor would passengers already seated, be required to give up their seats on overbooked flights.
It will adopt a “no questions asked” policy on permanently lost baggage, paying customers 1,500 dollars for the value of the bag and its contents, beginning in June.
“This is a turning point for all of us at United,” Chief Executive Oscar Munoz said in a statement.
Munoz, who took the helm at United Airlines in 2015 as part of an effort to improve customer relations, has faced calls to step down after referring to Dao as “disruptive and belligerent”, in a statement, following the incident.
It sparked a national conversation on U.S. carriers’ treatment of customers in an industry comprising just a handful of competitors, following years of mergers and consolidations.
United announced last week that Munoz, in a move he initiated, would not become company chairman in 2018 as stated in his employment letter. (Reuters/NAN)