The fallout from the video of a United passenger being removed from a plane isn't just a PR mess for the company, it's a financial one as well. Investors didn't seem fazed by the story on Monday, but that changed Tuesday, with the company's market value down about $255 million from $22.5 billion at the close of trading, reports MarketWatch. (Things had been much worse earlier in the day.) A look at related coverage:
- United CEO Oscar Munoz offered his "deepest apologies" Tuesday for the "truly horrific incident," adding that "no one should ever be mistreated this way." (That's a shift from his comments in a company memo.) He also promised a review of company policies. Read his statement here.
- Earlier, the airline clarified that the flight was sold out, but it wasn't overbooked, reports USA Today. The crunch occurred when the airline had to make room for four United employees who needed to get to Louisville for future flights, and no passengers voluntarily agreed to give up their seats.
- The passenger involved is 69-year-old Kentucky doctor David Dao, who came to the US from Vietnam. He has made no public statement, but the spotlight has still found him. The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that he surrendered his medical license in 2005 after being convicted on "multiple felony counts of obtaining drugs by fraud or deceit" and was cleared to resume practicing in 2015. The newspaper (not the only outlet reporting on Dao's legal trouble) faced an online backlash for the reporting, notes Business Insider. A post at Think Progress is particularly critical.
- Munoz might be done, writes the head of a PR firm at CNBC. Among the company's "three strikes" laid out by Mark Macias is its "tone-deaf" language in the immediate wake of the incident. (The post was written before Tuesday's apology.)
- But an opinion piece at Fox News says the anger at United is misdirected—it was a security officer from Chicago Aviation Department, not a United employee, who got physical.
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