United reaches settlement with passenger who was dragged off plane

United Airlines and the passenger who was dragged from a Chicago flight earlier this month have reached a settlement for an undisclosed sum, they said on Thursday, in the carrier's latest step to contain damage from an incident which sparked international outrage.

Viral videos of Dr David Dao being dragged down the aisle of a United jet and CEO Oscar Munoz's handling of the incident touched off a public outcry, prompted calls for new regulation of the airline industry by congressmen, and led United's board of directors to reverse an agreement to make Munoz the company's chairman in 2018.

United said earlier on Thursday it would create a new check-in process that would allow passengers to volunteer to give up their seats for compensation, and it increased the limit of that compensation to $10,000 from $1,350.

Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American doctor, was injured and hospitalized after Chicago aviation police dragged him from the plane to make space for four crew members on the flight from the city's O'Hare International Airport to Louisville, Kentucky.

United has taken "full responsibility for what happened on Flight 3411, without attempting to blame others, including the city of Chicago," Thomas Demetrio, an attorney for Dao, said in a statement.

In another embarrassment for the airline at O'Hare airport, a 3-foot-long giant rabbit died at a United pet holding facilityfollowing a flight from London.

The incident took place on April 20, but was first reported on Wednesday by British newspaper The Sun.

The 10-month-old Continental Giant breed rabbit named Simon, who was tipped to become one of the world's largest rabbits, had appeared to be in good condition upon arrival at the facility at Chicago's O'Hare airport, an airline spokesman said.

Simon was due to be picked up by a celebrity who had bought him. But when a United worker later checked on Simon, he found he had died, spokesman Charles Hobart said.

"We never want that to happen and it's always a sad experience for all involved when an animal passes while in our care," Hobart said by telephone on Wednesday.

The cause of death has not yet been determined, the spokesman said, adding that United was reviewing what happened.

Hobart said the airline had offered to carry out a post-mortem investigation on the rabbit, but the owner had declined. He said United also offered compensation to the owner, whom he did not identify, but did not disclose the amount.

REUTERS