Was David Dao Justified Essay

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The reaction from the general public to the forced removal of passenger David Dao from United Flight 3411 is thus far the best example I have come across of the dangerous, growing influence that social media has on how we perceive news and global events. David Dao, a 69-year old Asian-American doctor from Kentucky, was violently removed from his seat on an overbooked United flight by Chicago Department of Aviation police after refusing to give up his seat to United staff. Following the release of a recording of the incident, thousands of people over various social media platforms reacted in outrage to United, claiming that the handling of the situation by the airline and police was inexcusable. Additionally, many believe that Dao was justified in his relentless refusal to leave the aircraft after being requested to by both United and Chicago police. The injuries sustained by Dao as a result of his removal from the flight by …show more content…

In the case of United Airlines, the airline has every right to remove a customer from a flight in the event of an overbooking or excessive disruption from the customer. Thousands of people are removed without conflict from flights as a result of overbooking every year. Despite this, the public outcry directed towards United indicates that many seem to believe that Dao was justified in standing his ground and refusing to leave the aircraft. Furthermore, many cite his occupation as a doctor and his desire to see his patients as a justification of his actions. While this may sound reasonable, it ignores the fact that Dao could have been delayed by dozens of other potential incidents that don’t involve overbooking. If Dao’s situation was as time-sensitive as he was making it out to be, he should have been aware of the risk of his flight being delayed, and resultantly have scheduled an earlier flight or purchased a more expensive ticket to guarantee his

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