Editing United Airlines (section)

== Controversies and passenger incidents ==
=== Flight 976 ===
{{Main|United Airlines Flight 976}}
United Airlines Flight 976 was a regularly scheduled flight from Ministro Pistarini International Airport, [[Buenos Aires]] to John F. Kennedy International Airport, [[New York City]] on October 19, 1995. Prior to takeoff, an investment banker became disruptive after consuming two glasses of champagne, began threatening crew members and attempted to pour his own drinks, against airline and federal regulations. After takeoff, the banker was served two more glasses of red wine, after which the crew refused to serve him more alcohol due to his apparent intoxication. When his requests for more alcohol were denied, he pushed over a female flight attendant, climbed onto a [[service trolley]], took off his pants and defecated, used linen napkins as toilet paper, wiped his hands on various service counters and tracked feces throughout the aircraft,<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 23, 1995 |title=Complaint – United States of America v. Gerald Finneran |url=https://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/first-class-drunk-loves-liquor-linen |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019040415/https://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/first-class-drunk-loves-liquor-linen |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |access-date=January 17, 2022 |publisher=[[United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York]] |via=[[The Smoking Gun]]}}</ref> after which he entered a lavatory and locked himself in.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stasi |first=Linda |date=November 2, 1995 |title=Boorish biz flier rode no class |work=[[New York Daily News]] |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/boorish-biz-flier-rode-no-class-article-1.708654 |url-status=live |access-date=January 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201040614/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/boorish-biz-flier-rode-no-class-article-1.708654 |archive-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Stark |first=Michelle |date=February 13, 1996 |title=Passenger who disrupted flight to pay damages |work=[[Tampa Bay Times]] |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1996/02/13/passenger-who-disrupted-flight-to-pay-damages/ |url-status=live |access-date=2023-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027133607/https://apnews.com/article/7de0d25edb271d51200479ea23077782 |archive-date=October 27, 2020}}</ref>
A request to divert to [[Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport]] in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]], was denied due to the security risks created by the presence of the [[President of Portugal]] [[Mário Soares]], [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship|Argentinian foreign minister]] [[Guido di Tella]] and their security details on the flight. The disruptive passenger was arrested by the FBI after landing in New York and charged with interfering with a flight crew and threatening a flight attendant. He later pleaded guilty to the latter charge and was fined $5,000 (having previously agreed to reimburse the airline for its cleanup costs and all the other passengers their airfare, which amounted to nearly $50,000) and given two years' probation.<ref name="Chicago Tribune story">{{Cite news |last=Borg |first=Gary |date=May 15, 1996 |title=Unruly Air Passenger Gets Fine, Probation |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/05/15/unruly-air-passenger-gets-fine-probation/ |access-date=October 13, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032308/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-05-15/news/9605150125_1_frequent-flyer-program-airliner-aires-to-new |archive-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref> The incident was later dubbed the worst ever case of [[air rage]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reed |first=Dan |date=February 5, 2015 |title=Conrad Hilton III's Meltdown at 35,000 Feet Renews Talk of the Perplexing Phenomenon of Air Rage |work=[[Forbes (magazine)|Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielreed/2015/02/05/conrad-hilton-iiis-meltdown-at-35000-ft-renews-talk-of-the-perplexing-phenomenon-of-air-rage/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013230849/https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielreed/2015/02/05/conrad-hilton-iiis-meltdown-at-35000-ft-renews-talk-of-the-perplexing-phenomenon-of-air-rage/ |archive-date=October 13, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Frauenfelder |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Frauenfelder |date=November 25, 2015 |title="Worst ever" air rage passenger jailed for drunken rampage |work=[[Boing Boing]] |url=https://boingboing.net/2015/11/25/worst-ever-air-rage-passen.html |url-status=live |access-date=October 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831124829/https://boingboing.net/2015/11/25/worst-ever-air-rage-passen.html |archive-date=August 31, 2020}}</ref>

=== Animal transport ===
In 2013, after pressure from [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals|PETA]], United announced that it would no longer transport monkeys to laboratories. United was the last North American passenger airline to transport these animals to laboratories.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wadman |first=Meredith |date=January 8, 2013 |title=United Airlines ends transport of research primates |url=http://blogs.nature.com/news/2013/01/united-airlines-ends-transport-of-research-primates.html |url-status=live |journal=Nature |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404081742/http://blogs.nature.com/news/2013/01/united-airlines-ends-transport-of-research-primates.html |archive-date=April 4, 2015 |access-date=January 28, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Stuart |first=Hunter |date=January 9, 2013 |title=PETA: United Airlines Will No Longer Fly Monkeys For Use In Lab Experiments |work=Huffington Post |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/peta-united-airlines-lab-monkeys-lab-experiments_n_2439499.html |url-status=live |access-date=January 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325055101/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/peta-united-airlines-lab-monkeys-lab-experiments_n_2439499.html |archive-date=March 25, 2019}}</ref> United flies more animals and has longer flight stage length than any other US airline, and accounted for one third of animal deaths of US airlines between 2012 and 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jansen |first=Bart |date=April 26, 2017 |title=United Airlines accounted for a third of animal deaths on U.S. flights in last 5 years |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/04/26/united-airlines-animal-deaths-flights/100925100/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728054006/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/04/26/united-airlines-animal-deaths-flights/100925100/ |archive-date=July 28, 2017 |access-date=July 23, 2017 |website=[[USA Today]]}}</ref>

Effective March 20, 2018, the PetSafe program was suspended with no new reservations for cargo transport of pets accepted.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Aaron |date=March 20, 2018 |title=United suspends pet cargo flights |url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/20/news/companies/united-airlines-pets/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920153432/https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/20/news/companies/united-airlines-pets/index.html |archive-date=September 20, 2020 |access-date=May 5, 2018 |publisher=Money.cnn.com}}</ref> This came after United announced plans to mark pet carriers in the passenger cabin with bright tags<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2018 |title=United Airlines to use special tags for pet carriers after dog death |url=http://wgntv.com/2018/03/15/united-airlines-to-use-special-tags-for-pet-carriers-after-dog-death/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326064014/http://wgntv.com/2018/03/15/united-airlines-to-use-special-tags-for-pet-carriers-after-dog-death/ |archive-date=March 26, 2018 |access-date=May 5, 2018 |publisher=WGN-TV |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> and legislation was introduced in the United States House of Representatives<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2018 |title=Donovan, Cohen Introduce Bipartisan Bill Banning Pets from Overhead Compartments &#124; Congressman Steve Cohen |url=https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/donovan-cohen-introduce-bipartisan-bill-banning-pets-overhead |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326141535/https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/donovan-cohen-introduce-bipartisan-bill-banning-pets-overhead |archive-date=March 26, 2018 |access-date=May 5, 2018 |publisher=Cohen.house.gov}}</ref> and United States Senate banning the placement of pets in overhead compartments.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Senator plans to file bill prohibiting airlines from putting pets in overhead bins |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/03/15/senator-plans-file-bill-prohibiting-airlines-from-putting-pets-overhead-bins/z0hwvXyN8c78vlWEJBAPkJ/story.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326064144/https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/03/15/senator-plans-file-bill-prohibiting-airlines-from-putting-pets-overhead-bins/z0hwvXyN8c78vlWEJBAPkJ/story.html |archive-date=March 26, 2018}}</ref> This was in response to a dog death after a passenger placed it in the overhead compartment following flight attendant instructions, but the flight attendant denied knowing that the luggage contained a dog.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Liam Stack |date=March 13, 2018 |title=United Airlines Apologizes After Dog Dies in Overhead Compartment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/business/united-dead-dog.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324055908/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/business/united-dead-dog.html |archive-date=March 24, 2018 |access-date=May 5, 2018 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== Cyber security issues ===
United awarded airline miles as "[[Bug bounty program|bug bounties]]" to hackers who could identify gaps in the carrier's web security. Two hackers have each been rewarded with 1 million miles of air travel as of July 15, 2015. This cybersecurity program was announced a few weeks after the company experienced two software glitches. The first incident delayed 150 United flights on June 2 due to a problem with its flight dispatching system. Six days later, United's reservation system delayed flights by not allowing passengers to check-in. In addition to the "bug bounty" program, United said it tests systems internally and engages cybersecurity firms.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dastin |first=Jeffrey |date=July 16, 2015 |title=United Airlines awards hackers millions of miles for revealing risks |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cybersecurity-airmiles-idUSKCN0PQ0A320150716 |url-status=live |access-date=July 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151201061034/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/16/us-cybersecurity-airmiles-idUSKCN0PQ0A320150716 |archive-date=December 1, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bogage |first=Jacob |date=July 16, 2015 |title=Why United Airlines is rewarding hackers with millions of free miles |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/07/16/why-united-airlines-is-rewarding-hackers-with-millions-of-free-miles/ |url-status=live |access-date=July 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721224708/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/07/16/why-united-airlines-is-rewarding-hackers-with-millions-of-free-miles/ |archive-date=July 21, 2015}}</ref>

In July 2019, security researcher Sam Jadali exposed a catastrophic data leak known as [[DataSpii]], involving clickstream data provider DDMR and marketing intelligence company Nacho Analytics (NA).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodin |first=Dan |date=2019-07-18 |title=My browser, the spy: How extensions slurped up browsing histories from 4M users |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/dataspii-inside-the-debacle-that-dished-private-data-from-apple-tesla-blue-origin-and-4m-people/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us |archive-date=February 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227070343/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/dataspii-inside-the-debacle-that-dished-private-data-from-apple-tesla-blue-origin-and-4m-people/ |url-status=live }}</ref> NA granted its members access to real-time data, including the ability to observe United Airlines passengers checking into their flights through the United website.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DataSpii Impacted Companies |url=https://securitywithsam.com/dataspii-impacted-companies/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Security with Sam |language=en-US |archive-date=February 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219195101/https://securitywithsam.com/dataspii-impacted-companies/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Washington Post highlighted how DataSpii resulted in the dissemination United passenger information including last names and flight confirmation numbers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fowler |first=Geoffrey A. |date=2019-07-19 |title=Perspective {{!}} I found your data. It's for sale. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/18/i-found-your-data-its-sale/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=July 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718150650/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/18/i-found-your-data-its-sale/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The disseminated data also enabled the viewing of United customers' current geographic locations as they checked into their flights via the United website.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jadali |first=Sam |date=2019-07-18 |title=DataSpii - A global catastrophic data leak via browser extensions |url=https://securitywithsam.com/2019/07/dataspii-leak-via-browser-extensions/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Security with Sam |language=en-US |archive-date=July 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718122051/https://securitywithsam.com/2019/07/dataspii-leak-via-browser-extensions/ |url-status=live }}</ref> DataSpii harvested data from millions of Chrome and Firefox users through compromised browser extensions, exploiting United's method of embedding personally identifiable information (PII) directly within the URLs. Jadali's investigation revealed that DDMR facilitated rapid dissemination of this data to additional third parties, often within minutes of acquisition, endangering the privacy of the sensitive data collected.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodin |first=Dan |date=2019-07-18 |title=More on DataSpii: How extensions hide their data grabs—and how they're discovered |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/dataspii-technical-deep-dive/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us |archive-date=February 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227065448/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/dataspii-technical-deep-dive/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 2017 passenger removal ===
{{Main|2017 United Express passenger removal}}

On the evening of April 9, 2017, a passenger was forcibly removed by law enforcement from United Airlines flight 3411 at [[O'Hare International Airport|Chicago-O'Hare]], bound for [[Louisville International Airport|Louisville]].<ref name="bbc17">{{Cite web |date=April 10, 2017 |title=United Airlines: Passenger forcibly removed from flight |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39554421 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801171930/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39554421 |archive-date=August 1, 2018 |access-date=July 21, 2018 |website=BBC.com}}</ref> United announced that it needed four seats for airline staff on the sold-out flight.<ref>{{Cite news |last=John Bacon |date=April 11, 2017 |title=United Airlines now says flight that sparked uproar was not overbooked |language=en |work=USA TODAY |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/04/11/united-ceo-employees-followed-procedures-flier-belligerent/100317166/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411130820/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/04/11/united-ceo-employees-followed-procedures-flier-belligerent/100317166/ |archive-date=April 11, 2017}}</ref> When no passengers volunteered after being offered vouchers worth $800, United staff selected four passengers to leave. Three of them did so, but the fourth, a doctor named David Dao, declined as he said that he had patients to treat the following morning. He was pulled from his seat by [[Chicago Department of Aviation]] security officers and dragged by his arms down the aisle. Dao sustained a concussion, broken teeth and a broken nose among other injuries.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mitch Smith |date=April 13, 2017 |title=United Airlines Passenger May Need Surgery, Lawyer Says |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/us/united-passenger-david-dao-chicago.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |access-date=April 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416091953/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/us/united-passenger-david-dao-chicago.html?_r=0 |archive-date=April 16, 2017}}</ref> The incident was captured on smartphone cameras and posted on social media, triggering angry public backlash. Afterwards, United's then-chief executive officer, [[Oscar Munoz (executive)|Oscar Munoz]], described Dao as "disruptive and belligerent", apologized for "re-accommodating" the paying customers, and defended and praised staff for "following established procedures". He was widely criticized as "tone-deaf".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Todd Venezla |date=April 11, 2017 |title=Tone-deaf United CEO thinks things are going just fine |language=en |work=[[New York Post]] |url=https://nypost.com/2017/04/11/tone-deaf-united-ceo-thinks-things-are-going-just-fine/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418041517/http://nypost.com/2017/04/11/tone-deaf-united-ceo-thinks-things-are-going-just-fine/ |archive-date=April 18, 2017}}</ref> Munoz later issued a second statement calling what happened a "truly horrific event" and accepting "full responsibility" for it.<ref>{{Cite news |last=John Ostrower |date=April 12, 2017 |title=United CEO apologizes for 'truly horrific' passenger incident |language=en |work=CNN Money |url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/companies/united-munoz-apology/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416035142/http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/companies/united-munoz-apology/ |archive-date=April 16, 2017}}</ref> After a lawsuit, Dao reached an undisclosed settlement with United and airport police. In the aftermath, United's board of directors decided that Munoz would not become its chairman and that executive compensation would be tied to customer satisfaction.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 22, 2017 |title=United Airlines to tie executive pay to customer satisfaction |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39675265 |url-status=live |access-date=April 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422232302/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39675265 |archive-date=April 22, 2017}}</ref> Following this incident, passenger complaints increased by 70 percent.<ref>{{Cite news |last=LeBeau |first=Phil |date=June 14, 2017 |title=Airline customer complaints soar following terrible April |publisher=CNBC |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/14/airline-customer-complaints-soar-following-terrible-april.html |url-status=live |access-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013031438/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/14/airline-customer-complaints-soar-following-terrible-april.html |archive-date=October 13, 2017}}</ref>

=== Mail-scan fraud ===
In February 2021, United Airlines was fined $49 million by the [[United States Department of Justice]] on charges of fraud on postal service contracts for transportation of international mail. According to investigators, between 2012 and 2015 United submitted delivery scan data to make it appear that United and its partner airlines complied with International Commercial Air requirements with accurate delivery times when in fact they were automated delivery scans with aspirational delivery time. Some employees within United worked to hide this fact from the [[United States Postal Service]].<ref>{{DoJ}}{{Cite web |date=February 26, 2021 |title=United Airlines to Pay $49 Million to Resolve Criminal Fraud Charges and Civil Claims |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-airlines-pay-49-million-resolve-criminal-fraud-charges-and-civil-claims |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301210602/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-airlines-pay-49-million-resolve-criminal-fraud-charges-and-civil-claims |archive-date=March 1, 2021 |access-date=March 2, 2021 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Snyder |first=Tanya |title=United agrees to $49M fine for mail scan fraud |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/26/united-49-million-mail-fraud-471760 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303175611/https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/26/united-49-million-mail-fraud-471760 |archive-date=March 3, 2021 |access-date=March 2, 2021 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dabaie |first=Michael |date=February 26, 2021 |title=United Airlines Agrees to Pay $49 Million to Resolve Mail-Related Charges |language=en-US |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/united-airlines-agrees-to-pay-49-million-to-resolve-mail-related-charges-11614373479 |url-status=live |access-date=March 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302150614/https://www.wsj.com/articles/united-airlines-agrees-to-pay-49-million-to-resolve-mail-related-charges-11614373479 |archive-date=March 2, 2021 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>