CHICAGO -- United Continental Holdings' shares dropped nearly 4 percent in trading Tuesday morning as backlash continued over videos of security officers dragging a passenger from his seat Sunday to make way for airline employees.
Passengers were already onboard the United Express flight from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Louisville, Ky., on Sunday evening when the airline -- unable to find passengers willing to give up their seats for four airline employees in return for credits for future flights -- selected four passengers to bump to a later flight.
After one man repeatedly refused to leave, airport security personnel pulled him from his seat, dragged him through the aisle and off the aircraft.
The airline's stock rose slightly Monday despite the criticism, but dipped Tuesday morning. The shares fell 81 cents, or 1.1 percent, to close Tuesday at $70.71.
By midday Tuesday, one video of the passenger being dragged down the aisle had been viewed more than 19 million times. On Twitter, users shared more than 179,000 tweets suggesting replacements for United's "Fly the Friendly Skies" slogan.
In a letter to employees Monday night, United Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz defended the airline's policies and its employees while adding, "There are lessons we can learn from this experience."
The aviation security officer who pulled the man from his seat was placed on leave Monday "pending a thorough review of the situation," the Chicago Department of Aviation said in a statement, and United is conducting its own review of the incident.
David Dao, 69, the man dragged from the flight, is a Kentucky physician who lives in Elizabethtown.
Dao did not return messages from The Associated Press, which has confirmed that he is the man who can be seen on the cellphone videos taken by other passengers Sunday night at O'Hare Airport.
Dao was convicted more than a decade ago of felony charges involving his prescribing of drugs. There was no indication Tuesday that his past influenced how he was treated or that the airline or airport police were aware of his background.
While screaming can be heard on the videos, nowhere is Dao seen attacking the security officers. He appears relatively passive both when he was dragged down the aisle of the jet and when he is seen standing in the aisle later saying quietly, "I want to go home, I want to go home."
Airport officials have said little about the Sunday's incident and nothing about Dao's behavior before he was pulled from the jet. Likewise, the Aviation Department has said only that one of its employees who removed Dao did not follow proper procedures.
No passengers on the plane have mentioned that Dao did anything but refuse to leave the plane when ordered to do so.
Sunday night's confrontation stemmed from a common air travel problem -- an overbooked flight. United was trying to make room for four employees of a partner airline.
The incident showed how airline bumping can cause confrontation. Carriers around the world routinely oversell their flights because ticket holders don't always arrive for a flight. Overselling is a way to cover that situation while maximizing the airline's revenue.
The swift social media condemnation was sparked because Dao wasn't being ejected for misbehavior or a security threat. United said initially that the flight was overbooked, its staff chose Dao and he didn't want to get bumped.
United required the seats on the Chicago plane to accommodate several crew members who needed to get to Louisville to avoid canceling other flights, spokesman Charles Hobart said.
"It's not something we want to do, but occasionally, it's something we have to do," Hobart said. "This was an instance where, unfortunately, we had to request the assistance of law enforcement because we had to get that aircraft off the ground."
At first, the airline asked for volunteers to give up their seats, offering $400. When that did not work the airline offered $800 per passenger. When no one voluntarily came forward, United selected four passengers at random.
The incident has become a public-relations challenge for United, whose response demonstrates how a normally routine consumer interaction can become a brand-damaging event in a world of cellphones and Facebook, public-relations experts said.
United CEO Munoz initially apologized Monday for "having to re-accommodate these customers," but in a subsequent message to employees, Munoz called the passenger "disruptive" and "belligerent."
Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at New York University, said on Bloomberg Television: "It was probably the most tone-deaf response I've seen to this type of issue -- possibly ever. It's as if they literally sat around and thought, 'How could we make a bad situation worse.'"
On Tuesday Munoz offered his "deepest apologies for what happened" and said the airline would conduct a review of its procedures and policies to be completed by April 30.
"No one should ever be mistreated this way," he said in a statement, calling the event "truly horrific."
Munoz just last month was named "Communicator of the Year for 2017" by PRWeek. The public-relations industry publication said Munoz "has shown himself to be a smart, dedicated, and excellent leader who understands the value of communications."
Information for this article was contributed by Lauren Zumbach of the Chicago Tribune, Caryn Rousseau and Don Babwin of The Associated Press and Michael Sasso, Justin Bachman and Linly Lin of Bloomberg News.
Business on 04/12/2017