United Airlines shares plunge

New York, April 12 (IANS) As outrage over an Asian doctor's forcible removal from a flight continued to spread on social media, shares of the United Airlines (UAL) plunged nearly four per cent in the morning session on Tuesday.

The company lost about $800 million in total value in the morning session, Xinhua news agency reported.

A video released on social media showed that a bloodied passenger was dragged off a United Express flight by the aviation security officers, after he refused to give up his seat.

According to Chicago Tribune, the incident happened on a United flight at Chicago's O' Hare international airport on Sunday evening.

United Airlines had the flight overbooked and asked for four volunteers to give up their seats to United employees, after everyone boarded the flight.

The passenger said he was a doctor and had to be in Louisville on Monday for work, according to a Twitter account by a passenger on board.

Videos taken by other passengers on the same flight drew more than a million hits on social media, with many criticising United Airline's handling of the incident.

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz apologised on Monday for having to "re-accommodate" the customers in an overbooked flight.

However, in a letter to its employees, Munoz said: "Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this. While I deeply regret this situation arose, I also emphatically stand behind all of you."

Around mid day, shares of UAL tumbled 3.9 per cent to $68.72 apiece.