United Airlines CE Oscar Munoz said an incident like the one involving a bumped passenger being violently dragged off an aircraft earlier this week “will never happen again on a United Airlines flight” and promised that law enforcement would never again be used in a similar situation. Attempting to quell the firestorm that has engulfed United since the April 9 incident, Munoz appeared on the ABC News program “Good Morning America” April 12, offering contrition both for the incident and his initial response to it. The television interview with ABC was his first public appearance since the incident and his initial written statements reacting to it, which sparked widespread criticism and calls for Munoz to step down. Munoz said he has not considered resigning. <br/>
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United Airlines struggled Wednesday to respond to a third day of public outrage over widely shared videos of a passenger being dragged off an airplane, offering a refund to every passenger on the flight and promising to no longer have the police remove passengers from planes that are too full. Additionally, 2 more officers from Chicago’s Department of Aviation who were involved in the violent removal of the passenger Sunday were placed on administrative leave while investigators continued “reviewing the details surrounding the incident,” said a spokeswoman for the department. Oscar Munoz, the company’s CE, told ABC News Wednesday morning that he felt “shame” over the violent treatment Dr Dao had received. He also said he regretted his earlier public responses. <br/>
New video recorded on board a United Airlines aircraft shows the moments that led to a passenger being dragged from the flight. The footage, captured by a passenger sat directly behind Dr David Dao, shows the Kentucky physician telling police he would rather go to jail than get off the plane, saying "you can drag me". Earlier footage of Dao being dragged bloodied and screaming from the plane has made global headlines, earned the US carrier international condemnation and wiped a reported US$1.3b from the company's value. But vision showing what led to the shocking act adds a surprising twist to the scandalous story. A police officer says to Dao: "I have to drag you ... You know how this is going to end up happening, right?" A clearly angry Dao says the officer can drag him from the flight, and that he'd rather go to jail. <br/>
Scandinavian Airlines parent SAS is looking at paring office jobs and introducing seasonal working while finalising plans to base jets abroad as it moves to extend cost cuts amid intensifying competition. SAS is evaluating “hundreds” of initiatives prior to announcing additional measures and targets in the second half of 2017, CE Rickard Gustafson said. Most of the new steps will be added to an existing US$166m program running until 2019. SAS is fighting to maintain its market share as discount specialists including Ryanair and Norwegian Air Shuttle continue their expansion while flag-carrier peers benefit from consolidation into bigger, more powerful groups. Some competitors also have a 35 to 40% cost advantage since pension and social-security costs are higher in Scandinavia, Gustafson said. <br/>