United Airlines boss will not resign after passenger dragged off plane

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz Credit: ABC

The United Airlines CEO has announced he will not step down after a passenger was aggressively dragged from a plane.

Oscar Munoz said "this will never happen again", adding that the incident, which knocked $1 billion off the firm's share price, was a "system failure".

Speaking after flyer David Dao was removed from a flight with such force that he was apparently knocked out, Mr Munoz told US news station ABC: "That is not who our family at United is."

He went on to say "you saw us at a bad moment" and that he felt "shame and embarrassment" after the passenger was dragged from an overbooked flight.

Asked whether Mr Dao was at fault, he said: "No. He can't be. He was a paying passenger sitting on our seat in our aircraft and no one should be treated that way. Period."

It came after Mr Munoz issued his third statement in as many days over the incident, offering his "deepest apologies" and saying it is "never too late to do the right thing".

He pledged a full review of the circumstances, and said: "No one should be mistreated this way".

The CEO's words came in stark contrast to his original stance in which he attempted blame the "disruptive and belligerent" passenger.