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United CEO defends employees in plane incident

ASSOCIATED PRESS

This Sunday image made from a video provided by Audra D. Bridges shows a passenger being removed from a United Airlines flight in Chicago.

CHICAGO >> The CEO of United Airlines’ parent company is supporting the way his employees handled an incident with a passenger who did not want to go after being asked to leave a plane on Sunday night at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

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In a letter to employees this evening, Oscar Munoz said he was “upset to see and hear about what happened.” He added, however, that the man dragged off the plane had ignored requests by crew members to leave and became “disruptive and belligerent,” making it necessary to call airport police.

“Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this,” Munoz told employees. “While I deeply regret this situation arose, I also emphatically stand behind all of you, and I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond to ensure we fly right.”

Munoz said that the airline might learn from the experience, and it was continuing to look into the incident.

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