United Has Reached a Settlement With The Man Who Was Dragged Off Flight

United Airlines has reached a settlement with David Dao, who was dragged off a plane earlier this month.

A United Airlines 787 prepares to depart from London Heathrow
Getty

A United Airlines 787 prepares to depart from London Heathrow

A United Airlines 787 prepares to depart from London Heathrow

David Dao, the passenger who was publicly and brutally dragged off of a United Airlines flight earlier this month, has settled with United for an undisclosed sum, according to the Associated Press.

The agreement included a provision that the amount will remain confidential, but we can guess that he probably—and rightfully—received a fair chunk of change. Legal observers had speculated Dao could receive anything from $1-5 million. Not disclosing the amount of a settlement is standard practice, so it’s unsurprising that the figures were not made public.

The airline is trying to move on from the public relations nightmare that began April 9. Dao's flight out of Chicago was overbooked, and United randomly selected him to be removed from the plane (which they had no legal right to do). However, Dao, a doctor, said he had patients to see in the morning, and he refused to leave. That's when things got physical, and he was dragged out of his seat and through the plane's aisle.

One of Dao’s attorneys had kind things to say about United CEO Oscar Munoz, who "said he was going to do the right thing, and he has," explained attorney Thomas Demetrio.

"In addition, United has taken full responsibility for what happened...without attempting to blame others, including the city of Chicago," Demetrio said. The officers who dragged Dao off the plane worked for the city.

"I hope corporate America notices when you goof up, people respect you a heck of a lot more when you admit it, instead of making people go through three years of depositions, motions, court hearings," Demetrio continued.

United, which initially put some blame on Dao but quickly back-tracked and owned up to the clear error, released a statement saying it was happy to have "an amicable resolution of the unfortunate incident that occurred aboard Flight 3411."

Dao had not even sued—the settlement was processed before he pursued legal action.

United has made some changes in the wake of this situation, including upping the limit of what they can offer to passengers to $10,000 and modifying its rules for overbooking flights.

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