Former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders called U.S. airlines "dysfunctional," making clear that reforms were needed following the episode a week ago when United Airlines forcibly removed passenger David Dao from an overbooked flight, The Washington Times reported.
Sanders told CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday that the industry needed to be re-examined and become more respectful to their customers.
"Anybody who flies a lot — and as a United States senator, I fly a lot — knows how dysfunctional in many respects airlines are," the Vermont senator said. "I’ve been on airlines many, many times where people have been asked to leave. And, I think what we do need is to take a hard look at the airlines in this country and make them much more responsive to the consumers than they currently are."
Some lawmakers are already pushing legislation to reform the industry, including Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). One such plan would prevent airlines from forcing passengers off overbooked flights, instead offering financial compensation that would increase until a passenger agreed to give up their seat. Sanders did not specifically endorse that concept.
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