United CEO on dog's death in overhead bin: 'We got it wrong'

Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Airlines, discusses his vision for the company, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., March 21, 2018. (Reuters)

After a series of animal mishaps, the United Air CEO said that the airline “got it wrong,” referring to an incident last week that resulted in the death of a dog after a flight attendant placed the pet in an overhead bin.

CEO Oscar Munoz said Wednesday that company rules have prevented United employees from thinking outside the box when problems arise, Bloomberg reported.

“We put our folks in bad places when we give such definitive, specific, concrete, rigid rules that they’re not allowed to show a little caring and compassion,” he said.

A French bulldog died on flight from Houston to New York on March 12 after a flight attendant insisted that the dog be placed in its carrier and in the overhead bin through the duration of the flight.

The airline says that the unidentified employee did not understand that there was actually a dog inside the carrier, a story the family and other passengers say is not true.

UNITED FLIGHT ATTENDENT WHO FORCE DOG INTO OVERHEAD BIN ‘LYING,’ OWNER’S DAUGHTER SAYS

“Ultimately, this whole thing is about trust,” Munoz said. “You have the right to demand the highest level of performance from us.”

He added that United will be putting thousands of workers through a new training program called Core4 that will train them to better handle situations based on safety, compassion and efficiency, Bloomberg reported.

The training program comes just as the company announced that they would be halting new PetSafe reservations while it improves the program.

DOG MISTAKENLY SENT BY UNITED TO JAPAN RETURNING HOME TO HIS OWNERS

United recently charted a private jet to fly a German shepherd home after it was mistakenly sent to Japan instead of Kansas.

In a separate incident two days later, a United flight made an unplanned landing in Ohio after it was discovered it was carrying a dog that was put on the wrong plane.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.