United Airlines, Inc.,
commonly referred to as United, is a major American airline headquartered in
Chicago, Illinois. By some accounts, it
is the world's third-largest airline when measured by revenue, operates a
domestic and international route network, and has presence in the Asia-Pacific
region. United was founded in 1926 as Varney Air Lines and was later known as United Air Lines. United operates out of nine airline hubs
located in Chicago, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco,
Tokyo and Washington, D.C.
Recently they were in news
for all wrong reasons - after passenger Dr David Dao lost two front teeth and
suffered a broken nose when he was forcibly removed from a fligh. United Airlines said the move was aimed at
improving its customer services.
The incident involving Dr
Dao caused outrage and widespread condemnation of the airline after shocking
footage was shared and watched by millions of people online.His daughter,
Crystal Dao Pepper, later told a news conference in Chicago that the family had
been "sickened" by what had happened.Law enforcement officials
dragged Dr Dao off a flight departing from Chicago for Louisville, Kentucky,
because it was fully booked, and the airline wanted four passengers to make way
for staff members.The 69-year-old Vietnamese-American physician had refused to
leave, saying he needed to go home to see his patients. He was then dragged
down the aisle of the aircraft.His lawyer later said that Dr Dao found the
experience "more horrifying and harrowing than what he experienced when
leaving Vietnam".
The ordeal led to
demonstrations at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and turned into a
public relations disaster for United Airlines.
Now comes the news of a bride and
groom headed to Costa Rica for their wedding getting kicked off a United flight out of Houston
following an issue with seating on the plane.
Michael Hohl, the groom,
said he and his fiancé, Amber Maxwell, were the last to board United Airlines
Flight 1737 which was headed from Houston to Liberia, Costa Rica. According to
Hohl, they noticed a man was spread across their row napping when they
approached their seats, so they decided to move three rows up to row 21.He said
they didn't think it would matter because the flight was half full with
multiple empty rows.“We thought not a big deal, it’s not like we are trying to
jump up into a first-class seat," said Hohl.“We were simply in an economy
row a few rows above our economy seat.”In a Boeing 737-800 like the one the
couple was on, United considers Row 21 "economy plus," which is an
upgrade.
After sitting, Hohl said a
flight attendant approached and asked if they were in their ticketed seats. The
couple explained they weren't and asked if they could get an upgrade, but
instead they were told they needed to return to their assigned seats.Hohl said
after complying with the flight attendant's demand, a U.S. Marshall came onto
the plane and asked them to get off.The couple cooperated and got off the plane
without incident, but they still don't understand why.
United Airlines said in a
statement that the couple tried to sit in an upgraded seat
"repeatedly" and they "wouldn't follow crew
instructions."The bride and groom were rebooked for another flight the
next morning, but Hohl said they won't be flying United again and described the
whole situation as "quite strange."
Despite their flight
delay, their wedding is still planned for Thursday.United Airlines is steel
reeling after the viral video of
passenger being dragged off a United flight went viral.
Strange are the ways of
people
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
17th Apr 2017.
