United Airlines' Removal Of A Passenger United Airlines’stock plummeted after videos of a passenger being violently dragged off an overbooked plane circulated on the internet. At first, United stood by the forceful removal of the passenger but then issued a cold apology, with the company's CEO saying, "This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers." After intense backlash and boycott threats, United took full responsibility and made the apology that it should have made immediately after the incident: "We have committed to our customers and our employees that we are going to fix what’s broken so this never happens again." By this point, it was too late for consumers and the public to be appeased; United's consumer perception dropped to a 10-year low following this incident and the company' handling of it. That sincere apology should have been made during the immediate aftermath of the incident.