United Airlines Changes Policy Ater Incident
CABRERA: United Airlines is now changing its policy after backlash from that viral video. Surely you've seen it showing a passenger being dragged off a flight. Lawyers for Dr. David Dao say he suffered a concussion, a broken nose and other injuries after this happened. This is when he was forcibly removed from a United Airlines plane in Chicago. United later saying Dao's seat was needed for a commuting crew member. Well, here's United's new statement just this weekend saying, "we issued an updated policy to make sure crews traveling on our aircraft are booked at least 60 minutes prior to departure and this ensures situations like Flight 3411 never happen again." CNN's Rene Marsh reports on what's next for the injured passenger.</s>RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Attorneys for David Dao, the man dragged off of a full United Express flight fired a warning shot saying they will probably sue.</s>THOMAS DEMETRIO, ATTORNEY FOR DAVID DAO: If you are going to eject a passenger, under no circumstances can it be done with unreasonable force or violence.</s>MARSH: Dao was released from the hospital but suffers a long list of injuries, including a concussion, broken nose, injured sinuses, he lost two front teeth and he's set to undergo reconstructive surgery. After the incident, Dao appeared dazed as he rambled "just kill me."</s>DAVID DAO, PASSENGER, UNITED AIRLINES: Just kill me. Just kill me.</s>MARSH: His attorney explained.</s>DEMETRIO: He said that he left Vietnam in 1975 when Saigon fell. And he was on a boat and he said he was terrified. He said that being dragged down the aisle was more horrifying and harrowing than what he experienced in leaving Vietnam.</s>MARSH: Dao's daughter said watching the video made her family even more outraged.</s>CRYSTAL DAO PEPPER, DAUGHTER OF DAVID DAO: What happened to my dad should have never happened to any human being regardless of the circumstance. We were horrified.</s>MARSH: The attorney also blamed the city of Chicago and its officers. While a lawsuit has not been filed yet, they've signaled it's the direction they're going in asking a court to order the airline and Chicago Airport Police to preserve evidence, including surveillance video of passengers boarding the flight, the cockpit voice recordings, and personnel files.</s>JUSTIN GREEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: This happened in the absolute worst city, Chicago. It's famous for being a very good place to sue a corporation and it's the last place on Earth that United Airlines would want to defend the case.</s>MARSH: Well, CNN has obtained an e-mail the airline sent to passengers offering reimbursement for the flight. It says customers are eligible for vouchers towards future flights if they release the airline from lawsuits. Well, after CNN reported this, a United spokesperson later told us that it didn't mean to send passengers e- mails with that language, and then told us that no person on board that flight would have to agree to such terms. Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.</s>CABRERA: Thank you, Rene. What a mess for United. Hopefully it results in something for travelers. Let's talk more about the United Airlines controversy and what may be coming next. Joining me on the phone, consumer advocate and former independent and Green Party presidential candidate, Ralph Nader. He's also the author of "Breaking Through Power, It's Easier Than We Think." Ralph, thank you for joining us.</s>RALPH NADER, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): You're welcome, Ana.</s>CABRERA: I know in the 1970s you actually helped to set the precedent for airlines to compensate passengers bumped from a flight. So what's your reaction to this video we have seen over and over again now of Dr. Dao being dragged off a plane?</s>RALPH NADER, FORMER PRESIDENTEIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first of all, I don't think Southwest Airlines would have done that. And I think the first step is to punish these misbehaving airlines who charge you for everything but breathing, the reservation changes, baggage fees, upper bins, buying a ticket at the ticket counter, buying a ticket on the telephone. United and others charge for that. Southwest doesn't. So that's one market approach. In other words, favor the airline that is responsive. The second is that existing legislation -- it's now being drafted by people like Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Passenger rights bills have been floating around Congress going nowhere for years. And I think this tragedy with Dr. Dao is going to build up grassroots support for passenger bill of rights because the existing contract, which nobody can read. We're all told we've agreed to it the minute we bought a ticket.</s>CABRERA: There's that fine print always, right?</s>NADER: Yes. It's like 64 pages single-spaced, the United Airlines contract of carriage with 37,000 words. So, that's a one-sided contract. That has to be changed by a passenger bill of rights in Congress. So the proverbial contact to your senator and representative.</s>CABRERA: I think a lot of people would agree with what you just said in terms of the outrage of all these extra fees, and what seems to be worse customer service. But I've also read that United did have the legal right to force Dao off this plane, right?</s>NADER: Yes. The way a dictator has legal rights when they rig the laws. It's a one-sided contract. That's why Dr. Dao has a cause of action, as you describe. He's going to get a big settlement or a big verdict. He'll never have to work again. But the important thing is that these one sided contracts, standard form contracts from the fine print, they can never be allowed to be so dictatorial because we have no bargaining power. We don't even see it. We don't even negotiate it. The minute we buy a ticket, we're stuck with it. And that's why Congress has got to put in a passenger bill of rights to balance out the rights between passengers and the airlines, especially since it's all down to four major airlines now, the competition is getting less and less domestically.</s>CABRERA: So going back to this contract of carriage that you've been talking about. I understand that a few years back, your group actually tried to make a change, faircontract.org. You tried to convince the FAA to change the rules. So, what happened? Why didn't it worked?</s>NADER: Well, our project, faircontracts.org, it told the FAA, look, you're regulating the airlines and part of regulations is to make sure it is a fair recognition of rights of passengers. And so you can take this monstrous 64-page contract and fine print and make it fairer. Put it up to a public comment so people around the country can comment on it on the internet and then require these airline contracts of carriage to be fairer and the FAA wouldn't do it. The FAA is a very weak regulator.</s>CABRERA: So do you think that now we all have these cell phones that that's provided an opportunity, an outlet that's given travelers more power in this situation because we have videos like the one we just showed?</s>NADER: Very much, Ana. And that is costing United Airlines obviously. It's costing the passenger sales, its stock is fluttered. Its reputation and brand name is not what it was and that sends a signal to all the other airlines. I mean, you just don't do that. You can get people off the airplane by just providing cash and keep going up -- $500, $800, $900. There always some people not in a hurry, they'll take the next plane and have a financial windfall. What United did was they tried the voucher game, you know, vouchers, fine print, expiring in one year on another airline trip. People don't cater to that. But if it offered cash and is free to do, then it wouldn't be a problem because millions of passengers have gone off planes in financial windfalls since my Supreme Court win in the 1970s that set up this system. Millions of passengers have -- it works like a dream. But they have to keep increasing the incentive for enough passengers to give up their seats for the overbooked passengers to take the seats, and then take the next flight.</s>CABRERA: So, you just talked about one solution and in fact I think Delta might have been listening with you or with you in some kind of mind melt today because Delta Airlines just announced that it will pay passengers now up to $10,000 to give up their seats to completely avoid situations like United has faced this week. Beyond that, do you think we're going to start to see other airlines offering other types of benefits after this controversy?</s>NADER: Yes. The best benefit, Ana, is cash. People understand that.</s>CABRERA: Back to the cash.</s>NADER: You see, when they get a voucher, too many qualifications and conditions and time limitations. Cash does the job.</s>CABRERA: All right. Ralph Nader, thank you so much for joining us.</s>NBADER: You're welcome.</s>CABRERA: Nice talking with you this evening. It is a silent menace making it harder for us to breathe and easier to get sick. Ahead, how climate change could already be impacting your health. And, the Vice President, visiting South Korea just hours after a failed missile test in North Korea. What he said in Seoul and the options for handling the threat posed by Pyongyang. That's ahead.