United Airlines had a passenger dragged off an overbooked flight

On April 9, 2017, United Express Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked because the airline needed to transport four crew members to another flight. After no passengers accepted vouchers up to $800, United selected four passengers to deplane. Dr. David Dao refused, and aviation security officers forcibly removed him, dragging him unconscious down the aisle as passengers recorded video.

The video spread worldwide within hours. United CEO Oscar Munoz initially issued a statement apologising for having to 're-accommodate' passengers and later sent an internal memo describing Dao as 'disruptive and belligerent.' The tone-deaf response turned a single incident into a week-long global story about corporate indifference.

United's market value fell by roughly $1 billion in the days after the incident before partially recovering. Dao reached a confidential settlement with the airline. The officers involved were fired, and United changed its policies on overbooking and involuntary denied boarding.

The case became one of the defining examples of how a smartphone video and a poorly worded corporate statement can do more reputational damage than the underlying operational failure.