United Continental said it would offer up to $10,000 to passengers who voluntarily give up their seats on overbooked flights and sell fewer tickets on some flights, as the US carrier fights to repair its reputation after the violent removal of a passenger from a flight earlier this month.
United released a report on Thursday into the circumstances surrounding the removal by airport police of David Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American, from a flight at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Dr Dao was left with a concussion, a broken nose and two lost teeth.
Aggrieved air travellers from around the world have seized on the incident, which was widely viewed on social media, as a touchpoint for widespread grievances about air travel.