David Dao on United

Airlines
United airlines

● United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline

headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago

● United has eight hubs, with Chicago–O'Hare being its largest in terms of passengers
carried and the number of departures.

● As of April 2017, United Airlines was the third-largest airline in the world based on
revenue

● Based in Chicago, Illinois, United operated a fleet of 743 aircraft serving 235
destinations in the US and 138 international destinations in 60 countries.
Legal Rights and Ethical Responsibilities, and Obedience to
Authority

★ Ethical Insight: For both ethical and practical reasons, having the legal right to do something does not
necessarily make it ethically appropriate.

★ Legal and ethical rights largely overlap, but not completely. United Airlines may have had the legal right
to remove passengers from its planes under certain circumstances.

★ However, having that right did not necessarily make such an action ethically permissible in the case of
passenger David Dao.

★ In addition, while United employees and airport security may have been following protocol, their
obedience to authority resulted in physical harm done to Dao as he was forcibly removed. They
relinquished their independent ethical judgment in favor of following orders.
 Sequence of Events
Airline staff directed the security officers
Flight 3411 was oversold by one to assist. Officers dragged him from his
seat. United involuntarily denied With the four new crew seat. The outer armrest of Dao’s seat
boarding to one passenger who needing to travel, United gate could be pivoted upward, but officers did
was chosen for IDB in part agents sought four volunteers not lift Dao’s armrest, and as they
because he did not have a seat from among the passengers dragged him over it, he hit his head and
assignment. seated on the aircraft. face on the armrest.

At the same time, an earlier United The first two passengers left
flight to Louisville had a maintenance uneventfully and received
problem. Booked on that flight were compensation. One other customer
four crew members who were volunteered to leave for $1,000, an
scheduled to operate an early United amount United was prepared to pay.
Express flight from Louisville to The United agent next approached
Newark the next morning the Daos, but David refused to
leave.
 Problem Statement

United Airlines overbooking protocols must

ensure the safety of all passengers and staff
during the process.
 Recommendations
● Better Staff Training: Better training of United Airlines staff would
have made the deplaning of David Dao potentially less violent and
dramatic for the other passengers on the plane.
● Better Advertisement of Rules and Guidelines: If customers of
American Airlines were better informed of overbooking policies, the
deplaning of David Dao would potentially not have been looked
upon as discrimination or unfair.
● New Safety Procedures for Staff: A better procedure for deplaning
a passenger could potentially make the situation less jarring to the
passenger and others watching.
These procedures would have the best interest of both passengers and
staff in mind.
Thanks!
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