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According to the
couple, who said they were en route to get married, a federal
marshal had escorted them from the plane before take-off from
Houston, Texas, but United denied this on Sunday, saying in a
statement that neither a marshal nor other authorities was
involved.
The couple "repeatedly attempted to sit in upgraded seating
which they did not purchase and they would not follow crew
instructions to return to their assigned seats," United said in
a statement, adding "They were asked to leave the plane by our
staff and complied."
The statement from a United spokeswoman said the airline offered
the couple a discounted hotel rate for the night, and rebooked
them on a Sunday morning flight.
But Michael Hohl and his fiancée, Amber Maxwell, told KHOU they
tried to pay for upgraded seating and were denied, after finding
another passenger sleeping across their seats when they were the
last to board.
After moving within the economy cabin a few rows up, flight crew
denied their request to pay a supplement for the seats, which
United sells as "economy plus", and told them to move back to
their original seats, Hohl said.
"We thought not a big deal, it's not like we are trying to jump
up into a first-class seat," Hohl told KHOU. "We were simply in
an economy row a few rows above our economy seat."
The airline suffered a public relations disaster after a video
emerged a week ago showing security officers dragging a bloodied
passenger off an overbooked United Express flight in Chicago.
Shares in United's owner, United Continental Holdings Inc
<UAL.N>, were hammered, dropping 4 percent last week to close at
$69 on Thursday, reducing the company's market cap by $770
million to $21.5 billion. Markets were closed on Friday.
Dr. David Dao, the 69-year-old Vietnamese-American doctor who
was seen in video being dragged off a United flight a week ago,
will likely sue the airline, his attorney said on Thursday.
After the incident triggered international outrage, United Chief
Executive Oscar Munoz apologized to Dao, his family and its
customers, saying the carrier would no longer use law
enforcement officers to remove passengers from overbooked
flights.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen and Chris Michaud; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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