United Airlines' top executives sought to reassure investors Tuesday that they understand the seriousness of the fiasco this month in which a passenger was physically pulled off a full plane and that the airline will learn from it and move forward.
At the start of a conference call to discuss United Continental Holdings Inc.'s quarterly earnings, Chief Executive Oscar Munoz and two other executives each somberly acknowledged the event, which left the passenger _ 69-year-old Dr. David Dao _ bloodied and injured.
Munoz, in response to a question from an analyst, said the incident has prompted calls from the carrier's corporate travelers, who usually pay the most for tickets. He said the airlines' sales team has been addressing those concerns.
"There has been some concerns from our corporate accounts, which is totally appropriate," he said. "They believe in us. They believe we will get this fixed."
Munoz called the incident with Dao a "humbling learning experience for all of us, me in particular." He apologized again to his customers, saying, "You can and should expect more from us."
The earnings report comes a little more than a week after Dao, of Elizabethtown, Ky., was dragged out of his seat to make room for United employees on a flight from Chicago to Louisville, Ky. Dao's attorney said the doctor suffered a concussion, a broken nose and lost two front teeth.
Video of Dao being dragged off the plane went viral, and United has said it will no longer call on police to remove passengers and will require employees traveling for work to book seats at least an hour in advance to avoid displacing customers already aboard an aircraft.
The airline has said it is reviewing other procedures in the wake of the incident and will release its conclusions at the end of the month. Munoz has apologized repeatedly.
"There was never consideration of firing an employee" over the Dao incident, Munoz said Tuesday, acknowledging that there had been rumors that even he would lose his job. He called Dao's eviction from the plane a "system failure," not the fault of any particular employee.
Video of the bloody scene was widely seen in China, where United hopes to attract international travelers, and Munoz said Tuesday that he met with the Chinese consulate in the U.S. in response. He also said he plans to discuss the incident when he takes a previously scheduled trip to China in the next few weeks.
Munoz also said he sent a personal note to United's highest-spending customers, who he said reacted to the Dao incident with ideas and support for the airline.
In response to questions from reporters, United President Scott Kirby said it is too early to tell if the number of tickets booked with the airline has been affected. "We just don't have any quantifiable numbers," he said.
In the three months that ended in March, United posted net income of $96 million, or 31 cents a share, down from $313 million, or 88 cents, in the same period last year.
But excluding special items, United earned 41 cents a share, beating an average of 38 cents a share projected by analysts who were surveyed by Thomson Reuters. The special items included $37 million in severance and benefit costs. First-quarter revenue was $8.4 billion, up 2.7 percent. Expenses at the airline increased 7.9 percent to $8.1 billion, largely because of higher fuel and labor costs.
United is trying to increase its market share by attracting more passengers through the airlines' regional carriers. "This is not an attempt to build an empire," Munoz said Tuesday. "It is an attempt to restore United to its natural position."
This quarter, United plans to increase capacity by 3 percent to 4 percent.
