Airline executives were grilled before a congressional panel on Tuesday about customer complaints, with lawmakers criticizing them for overbooking flights, denying boardings, and imposing fees for flight changes and checked baggage. The others are lower-level executives from American Airlines, Southwest and Alaska.
"We know we have some catching up to do", testified Kerry Philipovitch, senior vice president of customer experience at American Airlines.
As soon as the hearing began, users on social media were quick to criticize United and Munoz, as many have been doing for the past few weeks. Selling more than 100 percent of available seats on a flight allows airlines to charge less, they said.
United has been under fire after cell phone video last month showed a passenger being forcibly dragged off one of its overbooked flights.
The House Transportation Committee is examining US air travel in the wake of the two incidents and others.
Some lawmakers, who happen to be frequent flyers, acknowledged that airline executives were in a tough spot as they testified at the hearing. The airline also said it will improve employee training.
Complaints about airline treatment and the United debacle let House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R- Pa., to warn at the start: "This won't be a pleasant hearing".
United Airlines and other big U.S. airlines on Tuesday justified their practice of overbooking flights, saying it allows them to keep fares lower and accommodate more passengers.
DeFazio and Rep. Rick Larsen (D., Washington) said Tuesday that they have requested a Government Accountability Office study of what Congress and the Department of Transportation can do to protect passengers' rights.
"We are not going away, we will hold you accountable and we expect real results", said Shuster, a Republican. The White House has not weighed in on whether new rules are needed to respond to airline customer service issues. Members of Congress are fed up with apologies about United's violent removal of a passenger last month and it wants action, not words.
United has taken a series of steps to reduce overbooking of flights since the April 9 incident and will raise to $10,000 the limit on payments to customers who give up seats on oversold flights, Munoz said.
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United CEO Oscar Munoz again apologized for the April 9 incident in which a passenger, Dr. David Dao, was violently dragged off of a plane in Chicago after he refused to give up his seat.
"We're here today to look and hear about where we can prod push or legislate to get better service for passengers", said Rep. Peter Defazio (D) Oregon RELATED: United's full review of passenger incidentUnited Airlines' CEO Oscar Munoz was up first and the star witness.
Bob Jordan, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Southwest, told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that the airline would cease overbooking as of next week.
But Rep. Bill of Shuster of Pennsylvania says the hearing is needed to help ensure that hundreds of millions of air travelers are treated fairly.
Flying in the US has become a "terrible" experience, from the time someone logs in on a computer to try to figure out which carrier has the lowest fares, said Rep. Mike Capuano, a Massachusetts Democrat.
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz testifies before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee about oversight of USA airline customer service in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill May 2, 2017 in Washington, DC.
Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines Oscar Munoz speaks in NY in 2016.
Munoz apologized to Dao and other passengers on the April 9 flight "for the bad experience you had".
He vowed to do better and work to restore the trust of United passengers.
Both the committee's top Republican and Democrat both decried the state of air travel for customers.
Lawmakers also called out airline executives on "contracts of carriage" which customers must sign when purchasing a plane ticket.
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