United Airlines Scandal

United Airlines has been under a good amount of heat recently and for good reason. After a video was released showing a passenger being dragged off the plane for being “disruptive.” This is where public relations become very important in determining how United Airlines was going to handle this situation. CEO of United, Oscar Munoz said this in a statement released, “This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.”

This was just on the surface though of what the message actually was. Munoz at first blamed the victim, Dr. Dao, for being disruptive and as CEO stood behind the actions taken by the employees on the United Flight that day. Two days later, the airline company released another statement backing up the actions taken. “United, American, and Delta airlines have implemented Non-Refundable, No-Cancel, No Seating, No Upgrade type fares. It is extremely important that you read the fare carefully if you do not wish to purchase these types of fares.” United was sticking to its policies even though the video clearly showed Dr. Dao’s limp body being dragged through the tight aisles of the United Airlines flight. This can make any flyer not want to board a United flight for any reason, being afraid the same thing will happen to them if they make the same mistake as Dr. Dao. The situation would sadly get worse for Munoz and United after we found out Dr. Dao suffered a concussion, lost his two front teeth and got his nose broken during this altercation when employees attempted to “relocate” the passenger to a different passenger.

United should have handled this crisis totally differently. First off, the CEO should have started with his own humanity before anything. In an article in the HuffPost, Linda Dumbar says, “Remember that you are human and so is your customer. Sit quietly and start there. Ask yourself what that implies about how you move forward. Do not start by consulting the General Counsel or a crisis specialist PR firm. Start by consulting yourself. Once you have grounded yourself in your own humanity you are ready to take the next step. If you do this, you will avoid having to think about the next tip.” The CEO should have realized he should resolve the situation in the first place, and not dig himself a bigger and bigger hole. A PR crisis is usually just a lapse in judgement or ethics and can normally resolved pretty quickly. This however was not handled this way and caused United all kinds of scrutiny. This is just a lesson for the future of United, which is people first and the company second.