Airlines would be prohibited from bumping ticketed passengers to make room for a member of the airline’s flight crew under a bill introduced this week by U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio.
Dubbed the “Hands Off Passengers Act,” the bill seeks to prevent a recurrence of an incident on April 9 when a United Airlines passenger, Dr. David Dao, 69, was left bloody after he was forcibly removed from a flight in Chicago.
In a speech on the House floor Turner said that incident “more than just created disruption for him and other passengers; it sparked a national outrage,” according to a news release issued Friday by his office.
“An airline’s lack of preparation for its own staff travel should not result in the disruption of the lives of its paying customers,” Turner said.
On the day of the incident, United Airlines had asked passengers on the plane to leave voluntarily to make room for crew members who needed to get to Louisville. When they could not get enough volunteers, Dao was asked to leave.
When he refused three, Department of Aviation Security officers confronted him and he was forcibly dragged down the aisle, a scene caught on cellphone video. Dao was hospitalized and his attorney said he suffered a concussion, a broken nose and lost teeth.
The company subsequently apologized and reached a settlement with Dao.
Turner’s bill would require the secretary of transportation to modify regulations to prohibit airlines from forcing people who are already seated to leave the plane or denying boarding to any passenger on an oversold flight to accommodate the air carrier’s staff members.
Overbooking is common among airlines, which gamble that a certain percentage of people who purchased tickets will not show up. After the incident, United officials announced it would no longer allow crew members to bump passengers already on board planes.
We are awaiting a response from United Airlines on Turner’s bill and will update this story when it is received.
Credit: Chip Somodevilla
Credit: Chip Somodevilla
About the Author
