The CEO of United Airlines was under hot water Tuesday morning while members of the US Congress questioned United's decision to drag a passenger off a plane.
Oscar Munoz testified before the House Transportation committee on Capital Hill in Washington, DC alongside 4 other airline executives from American Airlines, Southwest and Alaska.
Of course, Munoz caught the most heat as a result of Dr. Dao being traumatically dragged off a United flight on April 9.
According to CNN Money, the apologetic CEO began by saying "We had a horrible failure three weeks ago. It is not who we are. We will do better."
However, members of the committee assured him that they'll be expecting mandatory improvement.
Bill Shuster, a committee chairman, addressed the incident and said,
If we don't see meaningful results that improve customer service, the next time this committee meets to address this issue I can assure you will not like the outcome. We are not going away, we will hold you accountable and we expect real results.
Munoz apologized again in front of the committee and said, "It was a mistake of epic proportions. In hindsight, clearly our policies broke down."
Munoz reportedly addressed an investigation on the incident and said there were four basic failures that occurred.
Some of the failures include having police remove Dr. Dao when he wasn't a safety threat, creating a seat shortage so crew members could fly, and not offering enough money to "motivate" passengers to give up their seats.
Shuster commented on the incident again and said, "Congress will not hesitate to act when your customers, our constituents, are not treated the way they deserve."
Days after Dr. Dao was involuntarily dragged off a United plane, Munoz sent his employees a letter stating that he stands with them and "commends" their effort to "ensure we fly right."
After his meeting on Tuesday morning, it's safe to say he changed his mind.
Citations: United CEO apologizes to outraged lawmakers after man dragged off plane (Reuters), United CEO: 'We had a horrible failure' (CNN Money), 'It Was A Mistake Of Epic Proportions,' United CEO Testifies (NPR)
