Has the airline industry’s zeal to fill seats, maximize profits put passengers at risk?

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The video of United Airlines (NYSE: UAL) passenger David Dao being dragged off of a plane drives home a sometimes ugly reality of the industry: Overbooking. But with airline profits at or near record levels, has the industry’s zeal to fill seats — or maximize load factor as it’s referred to in the industry — gone too far? Dao’s lawyer, Tom Demetrio, suggested as much in a press conference April 13 televised on CNBC. Dao’s forcible removal raises basic questions about what passengers…