There is a mess of overlapping parties. A United gate agent summoned airport security officers, who work for the city. The crew that operated the aircraft—as well as the crew members who arrived after a full plane had been boarded, resulting in United telling four passengers they had to get off the flight—worked for Republic.
"To be quite frank, Chicago employees should not be doing the dirty work for the 'friendly skies' airline," Ald. Ed Burke said at City Council hearing today.
The pilot's letter reflects their frustration after United became the subject of public outrage from the U.S. to China, as well as memes, jokes and unwanted congressional attention.
"This violent incident should never have happened and was a result of gross excessive force by Chicago Department of Aviation personnel," the union said. "No United employees were involved in the physical altercation. Social media ire should properly be directed at the Chicago Aviation Department. This occurred on an Express flight operated by Republic Airline, as such, the flight crew and cabin crew of Flight 3411 are employees of Republic Airline, not United Airlines."
For United, this week cannot end quickly enough.
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