United Airlines Crisis

On April 9, 2017, United Airlines faced an incident that quickly escalated into a public relations crisis. This was furthered intensified by a clumsy response to the incident that resulted in damage to credibility and reputation of the airline. Throughout the incident, there were several opportunities missed and mistakes made that contributed to the negative impact and reaction from the public. According to “Business Insider” (April 10, 2017), and “The New York Times” (April 10, 2017), United Express Flight 3411 had boarded all its passengers when gate agents were approached by a flight crew requiring transport. As the flight was fully booked, the gate agents attempted to solicit four volunteers to leave the plane in return for re-booking

Gate agents never explained how and why Dr. Dao was selected, never acknowledged his reason for not leaving the plane, and did not appear to have any alternate passengers identified to approach. The response by the CEO was not issued until the following day, after it became “viral” on social media and his initial response did not address the incident and lay blame on the passenger, did not explain United’s “over-booking” policy, and was not apologetic in any manner. Throughout the response, United never communicated how and why Dr. Dao was selected, although some generalities were stated in an interview (New York Times, April 10,

When considering tactics, it is important to consider the variety of publics who may read or listen to the statement and subsequent releases. We would have recommended that while listening to the company’s lawyers is important to reduce legal ramifications, it is equally important to consider business ethics and to try to do the right thing in this situation, especially in the eyes of the public. We would have explained to the leadership team that if the public begins to view United Airlines as unjust and unethical, a company who treats their customers unfairly, that it may have negative results on company reputation and cost money in the long run (Anthonissen,