United Airlines to refund all passengers on infamous flight

Embattled airline United has made a further move to smooth things over following the violent removal of a passenger, by offering refunds to all those on the flight.

A spokesperson said all those on Flight 3411 on Sunday night from Chicago to Kentucky would be "receiving compensation for the cost of their tickets", according to reports from US media.

United Airlines has been the target of worldwide anger after footage emerged of a doctor being dragged screaming from his seat after the airline realised they needed to put extra crew members on the aircraft so they could make it in time for another flight.

Videos of the incident - some of which show 69-year-old Dr David Dao's face being smacked on his armrest so hard that it bleeds - have resulted in shares in the airline's parent company plummeting by nearly $1b, a boycott threat from Chinese flyers, a parody commercial from US late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, and a lawsuit from Dr Dao.

United Airlines chief executive Oscar Munoz came under fire following a lacklustre apology just hours after the incident occurred - but he has since changed his tune after the widespread fury directed at him.

In an interview with ABC News' Good Morning America, Mr Munoz said he was immediately filled with "palpable" shame and embarrassment at the incident - and voiced remorse for not "truly expressing what we were feeling" in his initial apology.

"That is not who our family at United is - you saw us at a bad moment," he said.

"This can never - will never - happen again on a United Airlines flight. That's my premise and that's my promise."

The irony of the incident is that Mr Munoz had just last month received an award from PRWeek for "his efforts to better engage with employees and customers".

The award, which was for the magazine's 'Communicator of the Year', was followed almost immediately by two disastrous, high-profile that damaged the airline's brand - the other being when the airline stopped two girls from boarding a flight for wearing leggings.

They have since said "it's fair to say that if PRWeek was choosing its Communicator of the Year now, we would not be awarding it to Oscar Munoz".

Newshub.