CHICAGO (AP) — A Kentucky doctor who was dragged off a United flight after he refused to give up his seat to crew members has reached a settlement with the airline for undisclosed amount.

David Dao’s legal team announced the settlement Thursday in a brief statement. The agreement includes a provision that the amount will remain confidential.

United Airlines says it will raise the limit — to $10,000 — on payments to customers who give up seats on oversold flights and will increase training for employees as it deals with fallout from the video of a passenger being violently dragged from his seat.

United is also vowing to reduce, but not eliminate, overbooking — the selling of more tickets than there are seats on the plane.

it added several other new policies including:

— Raising the limit on compensation to $10,000 for customers who give up their seats starting Friday. That is a maximum — it’s unclear how many, if any, passengers would see that much. The current limit is $1,350. Delta Air Lines earlier this month raised its limit to $9,950.

— Sending displaced passengers or crew members to nearby airports, putting them on other airlines or arranging for car transportation to get them to their destinations.

— Giving gate agents annual refresher training in dealing with oversold flights. Munoz said he also wants agents and flight attendants to get more help at de-escalating tense situations.

While not a factor in this month’s incident, United also said that starting in June it will pay customers $1,500 with no questions asked if the airline loses their bag.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/04/27/united-airlines-compensation/

So now on to the Chicago PD for the next settlement?

in others words he got millions more just for agreeing to confidentiality...
and maybe a secret clause not to appear on Oprah ..

That ought to up the cost of flights for all of us....

Which part?

The doc settling out of court?

United raising its get off my plane reimbursement?

Or the lost luggage increase?

United sure isn't going to eat it.

It's amazing how many don't understand capitalism and the free markets. The cost of providing a service has very little to do with what is charged for that service, the marketplace determines that price. United charges what they can get for their tickets, if they can charge more they pocket the increase and their earnings go up, if they can't cover expenses with what they're charging then they go bankrupt. They can't just raise fares, if they do then the other airlines will undercut them and their seats will fly empty, generating zero income. United can't just pass the cost on to the consumer, they're not a monopoly. If the airline industry was still regulated then they could run to the government like an insurance company, whine that their costs went up ask to raise prices to cover it. They're not regulated any more though. They most certainly will "eat it" and the amount they paid Dao is paltry compared to the loss of business they've experienced so far. They (wisely) decided to pay him off to get it out of the news as quickly as possible so they can get their business back.

They're still going to lose a bunch of money out of the deal, but the settlement amount is small peanuts compared to the rest. They're just trying to stop the bleeding right now.

Amazing how money always cures insult and hurt, isn't it?

I don't know why the airlines don't just keep a fleet of small planes to shuttle crews back and forth in these situations.

They sure wouldn't need to find a pilot!

Yes

Because it doesn't happen that often, and if it does happen they can easily move their crews around on scheduled flights. This got screwed up not because they needed to get the employees on the flight, it got screwed up because some idiot in charge decided to forcibly remove a paying passenger instead of offering a suitable amount of money to get some other passenger to give up their seat. There were a couple of other passengers that were willing to give up their seats but not for the amount offered, they tried to negotiate with the gate agent but the agent blew them off and called security to remove Dao. I'll bet United wishes they'd tossed a few hundred more bucks in the pot now.

So, they will jack their rates even more higher than those of Southwest? That ought to fly real well.

Pretty much nailed it.

United will be awesome to fly in 5 months.

Always travel in a group and someone must keep a phone handy at all times. Better be careful before one lays a hand on anyone.

I suspect we will be seeing more and more folks testing the waters looking for a payout in the immediate future.

Stock did not take enough of a hit to make me run out and buy.

They will write it off their taxes as operating cost and lost.

I don't if it cures it, but the Co. knows it will stop him expressing it to their detriment.

People who take out civil cases against murderers and receive a substantial settlement
don't necessarily stop hurting about their personal loss.

I was on a flight last Fall to and from Baton Rouge the same day. Not many flights in and out of there. When I landed, I got a text asking if I was interested in giving up my return seat for $800, and would be driven to NO and fly out of there later. Would have taken it, except the $800 was a "voucher" that was good for a year. Had no travel plans to fly in that time, so passed. Otherwise, for cash, I would have jumped on it. For the right dollar, there is always someone willing to be delayed for a few hours or even a day.

I miss the times gone by, when Alaska Airlines would give a free RT voucher to anywhere they flew, if you took a bump. My first question, when I got to the gate, was always "Do you need any volunteers?" They quit that a few years ago.
My wife and I got 4 RT vouchers one one return trip to Kodiak one Christmas. We could have had more but she was getting too worn out. Cheapskate me would have stayed for more.. ;0

I do not understand the overbooking deal. If you sell more product than you can deliver, YOU have a problem. It should never be the customers problem. There are many ways to fix it, but it's up to the seller to figure it out. I understand the airlines use fine print to pull this off, but it should never stand legally. I have never flown, don't want to, but if you see me on a plane, I damn sure have somewhere to be, and don't want delayed.

When you control the lions share of the gates at a major airports you have a monopoly. Nobody's undercutting United flying in and out of their major hubs. I also have a sneaking suspicion this settlement isn't anywhere near what some are imagining on this site.

Nobody has a monopoly at major airports, small airports yes, but the big ones no. United competes with American at Chicago, Delta with Southwest at Atlanta.