On April 9, 2017, at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, four paying customers were selected to be involuntarily deplaned from United Express Flight 3411 to make room for four deadheading employees.

[1] One of these passengers was David Dao, 69, a Vietnamese-American who was injured when he was physically assaulted and forcefully removed from the flight by Chicago Department of Aviation Security officers.

[2] In the process of removing him, the security officers struck his face against an armrest, then dragged him – bloodied, bruised, and unconscious – by his arms down the aircraft aisle, past rows of onlooking passengers.

Prior to the confrontation, United agents made a general offer to the plane's passengers – of travel vouchers, accommodations, and a later flight – in exchange for their seats, but none of them accepted.

United CEO Oscar Munoz issued a statement the following day that appeared to downplay the treatment of Dao, referring to the incident as "re-accommodating the customers".

[18][19] Just before 17:40 CDT, the United Express gate agent announced that four passengers would be selected by computer and involuntarily removed to accommodate the four Republic employees.

The fourth, 69-year-old David Dao – a doctor from Elizabethtown, Kentucky[23][24][25][26] and former folk musician[27] – refused, protesting that he needed to see patients the next day at his clinic.

In the process, he suffered injuries to his head and mouth when, according to another passenger, aviation security officer James Long[31][4] threw him against the armrest[3] before dragging him down the aisle by his arms, apparently unconscious.

[41][42][43] According to passenger Tyler Bridges, "An airline supervisor walked onto the plane and brusquely announced, 'We have United employees that need to fly to Louisville tonight.

"[9] Powell said, "The disgusting mishandling of the situation included everyone from the rude ticket agent who demanded that this man give up his seat on the flight United overbooked ..."[49] Passenger John Klaassen later said, "after the first offer was made, the United employee left and it escalated ... had they just tried some diplomacy, none of this had to take place ... they were unwilling to negotiate"[50] Passenger Mary Myers faulted the supervisor, saying, "I really put all of this on her shoulders.

[62] Following a review prompted by the incident, in July 2017 the Chicago Department of Aviation reported that its unsworn, unarmed airport security personnel were not actually police officers under Illinois law.

"[84][85][86] By April 11, United changed its prior statement, stating that the flight was in fact not overbooked, but sold out, and the four employees who needed the seats were considered "must-ride" passengers who had to travel to another city to work as aircraft crew.

In a government filing, United said that the airline was developing a program for 2017 so that compensation was "directly and meaningfully tied to progress in improving the customer experience.

These included raising the maximum amount of travel vouchers to passengers "bounced" from flights to up to $10,000 and a $1,500 "no questions asked" fee for permanently lost luggage, and the airline promised to reduce overbooking.

"[118] Public relations expert Rupert Younger, director of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, called the handling of the situation "a major disappointment."

[119] Former Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley said: "It's hard to think of a case study that went so compellingly wrong so rapidly.

The statement read in part: "this violent incident should never have happened and was a result of gross excessive force by Chicago Department of Aviation personnel.

[123][124] Royal Jordanian put up a picture of a no-smoking sign on its Twitter account with the messages, "We would like to remind you that drags on flights are strictly prohibited by passengers and crew," and "We are here to keep you #united.

[129] White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer commented that "It was an unfortunate incident" and added "when you watch the video, it is troubling to see how that was handled.

[29] On April 12, the USDOT stated that it was "reviewing the involuntary denied boarding of passenger(s) from United Express flight 3411 to determine whether the airline complied with the oversales rule.

"[132][133] New Jersey Governor Chris Christie asked the United States Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, to suspend allowing airlines to overbook passengers.

[142] Dan Lipinski (D-IL), member of the House Transportation Committee's Aviation subcommittee, called on Congress to make legislative amendments to give passengers more rights and to prevent further similar incidents.

"[144] Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) drafted the "Customers Not Cargo Act", which would ban airlines from involuntarily bumping passengers who are already on the aircraft and seated.

[145][146] Separately, congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) stated she intended to introduce legislation to end involuntary bumping of passengers, requiring airlines to increase their offer until a customer voluntarily gives up their seat.

[147] On April 26, 2017, Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced a bill which would change how airlines handle their boarding and bumping policies.

It also forbids the state of Illinois from doing business with airlines whose policies allow removal of paying passengers to make room for employees traveling on non-revenue tickets.

[140] An April 12 statement by the Chicago Department of Aviation offered these comments about their security staff: "While they do have limited authority to make an arrest, Sunday's incident was not within standard operating procedures nor will we tolerate that kind of action.

[174] In an SNL sketch, Jimmy Fallon's character Doug proposes marriage to Cecily Strong's Jen after admitting that he made "one of the biggest mistakes a person can make."

"[175][176] The cover of The New Yorker May 22 issue depicted former FBI director James Comey, who had just been fired, being dragged down the aisle of an airplane by former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

"[178] Shortly after this incident, a passenger on a United Airlines flight who bought a full-price first-class ticket from Lihue to Los Angeles was told to get off the plane because "they needed the seat for somebody more important.