Following a passenger’s forceful removal from a United Airlines flight to accommodate a flight crew, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) called on airlines to work to improve customer service.
Davis, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, wrote in an op-ed published in The Hill that United Airlines had failed its customers and had lost the confidence of travelers around the world.
“And for good reason,” Davis wrote. “It seems like an obvious statement, and an absurd one to even have to make, but there should never be a situation where a paying passenger is violently removed from a plane to accommodate a flight crew. I hope United is taking the necessary steps now to ensure this never happens on one of their aircrafts again. And while the escalation in this incident thankfully appears to have been an anomaly, the industry’s reluctance to implement policies that improve customer service is not.”
On April 9 a United Airlines passenger was forcibly removed from an airplane on the ground at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
Lawmakers and regulators need to gather facts and information on the incident, Davis wrote, and to answer questions about the decision to call law enforcement, why steps weren’t taken before boarding to avoid the situation, and what guidelines the Department of Transportation (DOT) provides airlines regarding flight crew accommodations.
“As we continue to examine this incident and decide the appropriate and necessary response, I urge all of the airlines to look at their own internal protocols and make changes to put the customer first and prevent something like this from ever happening on another aircraft,” Davis said.
Davis also highlighted his bill, the Families Flying Together Act, which was included in the latest Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. The measure requires airlines to ensure young children are seated next to parents before boarding.
“I did not introduce this legislation hastily,” Davis said. “It was a product of many failed conversations with the airline industry urging them to implement this on their own because I generally believe too much regulation on private businesses doesn’t benefit the customer or the business. It usually increases costs and limits options for both. However, my point to the airlines is that if you’re not willing to implement these common sense changes, changes that will actually help your business by improving customer service, then the government will likely do it for you.”
Davis has requested more information regarding the forceful removal incident from the DOT, and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced a forthcoming oversight hearing to explore issues related to customer service within the airline industry.