United to offer passengers up to $10,000 to give up seats

In a statement released today, United Airlines announced it will offer up to $10,000 to passengers who volunteer to surrender their seats on an overbooked flight, said a report.

The announcement comes as the airlinest tries to repair the damage caused by a a recent incident where one of its passengers was forcibly removed off one of its overbooked flights, said a report in Reuters.

69-year old Dr David Dao suffered severe injuries during the incident, losing two front teeth and breaking his nose. Footage of the incident was widely shared on social media.

"Our goal is to reduce incidents of involuntary denial of boarding to as close to zero as possible and become a more customer-focused airline," the carrier said in the statement.

United also announced several other measures in response to the incident:

No more use of law enforcement to deny passengers boarding or remove passengers from flights.
Passengers who are already seated will no longer be required to give up their seats
A “no questions asked” policy on permanently lost baggage, which will pay out up to $1,500
Annual training for staff to handle “the most difficult situations”

"This is a turning point for all of us at United," chief executive Oscar Munoz said in the statement.