United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz said he ashamed after first hearing about the United Airlines passenger David Dao being dragged off a flight heading from Chicago to Louisville, and that it would “never happen again on a United Airlines flight.”
In an interview with Good Morning America that aired Wednesday, Munoz said “as I think about our business and our people, the first thing I think that’s important to say is to apologize to Dr. Dao, his family, the passengers on that flight, our customers, our employees. That is not who our family at United is, and he saw us at a bad moment. And this will never happen again on a United Airlines flight—that’s my premise and that’s my promise.”
The executive’s initial response to the incident lacked an apology to Dao. On Monday, a day after the incident, he apologized for having to “re-accommodate customers,” adding that the airline was conducting a “thorough review” of what happened. But when asked why he didn’t initially apologize to Dao after first hearing about the incident, Munoz said, “I think my first reaction to most issues is to get the facts and circumstances. My initial words fell short of truly expressing what we were feeling. And that’s something that I’ve learned from.”
He continued, “that shame and embarrassment was pretty palpable for me and a lot of our family.”
You can watch the full interview here.
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