United Continental Holdings Inc shares fell as much as 4.4 percent on Tuesday after a worldwide backlash erupted over a passenger who was dragged off one of the carrier’s overbooked US flights.
Videos that showed a man who appeared to be Asian being dragged down the aisle on his back by his hands, body limp, bleeding from the mouth, glasses askew and shirt pulled up above his navel; sparked an outcry on Monday when the footage went viral.
On Chinese social media, the incident attracted the attention of more than 340 million users on the Weibo platform by Tuesday morning. United Continental got about 14 per cent of its 2016 revenue from flying Pacific routes.
In a letter circulated to employees on Monday and seen by Reuters, United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz declined to apologize for the rough manner in which the passenger was handled, instead expressing regret that “this situation arose” and telling staff that “there are lessons we can learn from this experience.”
“While I deeply regret that this situation arose, I also emphatically stand behind all of you, and I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond to ensure we fly right.”
