United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz on Tuesday issued a public apology over the airline's mistreatment of an Asian passenger. The man was forcibly removed from a flight on Sunday. The CEO's apology came soon after the firm's image took a hit and its shares started going down.
"No one should ever be mistreated this way," Oscar Munoz wrote in a note to employees on Tuesday. The apology came a day after a video posted by fellow passengers showing police dragging a man out of the plane went viral on social media.
The guards grabbed the Asian doctor in an aggressive manner and dragged him down the aisle of the plane. The video showed other passengers with a shocked look on the face. The flyers also claimed the man had done nothing wrong.
Munoz's official statement on Monday received sharp criticisms after he described the incident as an effort to "re-accommodate" passengers. In his statement, The United Airlines CEO also called the man "disruptive and belligerent".
The airlines has been targeted by social media and the company shares soon saw a significant plunge on Tuesday.
Munoz said he was committed to "fix what's broken so this (the incident) never happens again."
The value of United Airlines' holding company, United Continental Holdings, fell over 4 percent before noon, knocking almost a billion dollars off its value. It rallied slightly, leaving the share price down 2.8%, close to $600m less than the company's $22.5bn value as of Monday's close, the Guardian reported.
Munoz also said he will review the company's policies for seeking volunteers to give up their seats, for handling oversold flights and for partnering with airport authorities and local law-enforcement.
The firm is set to share the results of the review by April 30.
