United Airlines just can't seem to get out of its own way this year.
First, it barred a young woman from boarding a plane because of her leggings. Then came the embarrassing April 9 incident in which a man was violently dragged from his seat and removed from the plane after refusing to be involuntarily bumped. Then it booted a couple headed to their destination wedding in Costa Rica from one of its flights over dubious circumstances.
Now, more bad news: Another lawsuit from a passenger, and an angry group of U.S. Senators.
According to multiple reports, United customer Karen Shiboleth has filed suit for at least $150,000 in damages after she alleged she was asked to leave her business-class seat on a flight from Newark-Liberty International to London-Heathrow in September of 2016.
Shiboleth said she was "forced" to leave the seat and was escorted to the back of the plane without an explanation.
Shiboleth filed suit on Monday asking for at least $150,000 in punitive damages and a total of $9,146 in fees and award points. She purchased an economy class seat for $1,498.90 and then used 60,000 American Express miles and an additional $498.56 in fees on an upgrade.
Shiboleth said a flight attendant escorted her from her window seat by grabbing her arm and taking her to a middle seat in the back of the plane.
United does not respond to pending litigation, and it might take a while for that to see the inside of a courtroom. More urgently, the airline is under fire from the U.S. Senate.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Police Reports Tell Other Side Of United Incident [/READMORE]
United apparently missed the April 20 deadline to provide answers surrounding the April 9 dragging incident to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology. The Chicago Department of Aviation, whose officers violently removed Dr. David Dao from the plane, also did not meet its deadline of the same day.
"We're disappointed that neither United Airlines nor the Chicago Department of Aviation has yet provided substantive answers to the straightforward questions we asked about the forcible removal of a passenger on April 9, 2017," the committee said in a statement according to CNN.
"Getting answers for the public about what happened and what can be done to prevent such an incident from happening again is a priority for the members of our committee. We find any further delay in getting necessary answers unacceptable."
United said it will provide answers by this Thursday, April 27. The Aviation police said it would give the committee its response by Wednesday, April 26.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
