United Airlines PR Crisis: April 2017

In the past ten years, there has been more than one large-scale airline crisis to examine. However, in choosing one more prominent one, the United Airlines debacle surrounding a passenger’s removal from a flight comes to mind for the overall virality and issues with responses from the CEO. Before diving into the more granular details of this situation, it is important to examine the top three categories for organization within this brief, such as an analysis of the approaches taken using relevant media coverage, use of social media and the long-term implications to the overall organization’s reputation. Finally, as with any crisis, there are ethical concerns that need to be taken into account. With this crisis, United had to face the reality that their policies may be antiquated and unethical when in the business of dealing with customers. This will be highlighted in greater detail throughout the case study.

In April 2017, a passenger was removed from an overbooked United Airlines flight after apparently refusing to give up his seat. It is not only the removal that struck, and horrified people, but the manner in which he was forcibly removed that deeply upset passengers and the entire country. Because this encounter was filmed on a phone and then shared to media outlets and on social media, it became a top story in no time at all. This event seemed to spark outrage from customers and non-customers around the country, which only further solidified people’s dissatisfaction with the often-overbooked airline.

However, it is also the CEO’s, Oscar Munoz, reaction that only worked to incite reactions. His apology did not address the injuries that the man who was removed sustained, but only mentioned “having to re-accommodate customers.” While Munoz did relay a more substantial apology, his first reaction should have been more thought out, as it is often the one people most remember. In a crisis there is less time to piecemeal the response that is necessary, which is why it is important to develop a message quickly, but also correctly. While this seems like a larger undertaking, a company such as United should be well versed in reacting to precarious situations.

Rather than come right out with a response, even though he lacked information, Munoz could have simply stated that they are actively putting together all of the information, and that passengers’ safety is of the utmost importance. This way, he is addressing that there is an issue, they are invested in fixing it, but the attention is on the passengers. The damage from the video was inevitably going to hurt the company, but they could have done a better job of responding to it, rather than turning the attention to something other than the root of the problem, which was that a man was forcibly removed and injured on a flight. While it is impossible to ignore the compromising content, if Munoz responded in a sympathetic manner, he could at least eased some of outrage by showing that he cared a bit more.

Then, once the details have come to light and/or he has been briefed on the situation, the response can be more appropriate for the audience. That being said, according to an article in CNN Money, “many customers found the response to be overly callous – and said so on social media where the video of the incident had gone viral” (Petroff). It would have been much better to recognize, what was obvious in the video, that a man had been injured aboard a United Airlines flight. The circumstances were in question, but those who were not outraged were probably fearful that something like this could happen to them. Rather than mitigate and work to alleviate anxiety, Munoz should have quickly met with his PR team/Crisis Management team to discuss the most human response possible. After all, United Airlines is in the business of customer service and dealing with real people, who are often aggravated by travel delays and inconveniences in general.

There was also great irony in the fact that Munoz was named Communicator of the Year by PR Week just a month before this incident. In reaction, The New York Times highlighted a comment from PR Week in which they said, “It’s fair to say that if PR Week was choosing its Communicator of the Year now, we would not be awarding it to Oscar Munoz” (Creswell and Maheshwari). This unfortunate response only works against Munoz’s character as a leader and communicator. And while there is never perfect timing for a crisis, United was just coming off of previous scrutiny “in which the airline was forced to defend itself about what some saw as a sexist policy after it barred two teenage girls wearing leggings from a flight” (Creswell and Maheshwari). Coming off of a scrutiny is difficult, but should prepare leadership and employees to be on alert for the next scrutiny, as it is probably not too far away. One of the greatest takeaways from this incident is that it pays to be prepared with aligned messaging, especially when communicating on social media. Munoz’s first gaff was with the “re-accommodating” mention, the second was the comment about the passenger “defying” officers and the third was the apology that came far too late.

As for some of the responses and overall virality of this incident on social media, there is much to sift through. They became a top trending topic on Twitter and Facebook, with many seeing the video and reacting very quickly. A top trending hashtag on Twitter from this incident was #NewUnitedAirlinesMottos, which is still being used presently. As this incident gained momentum, it also caused outrage in China, according to a CNN article. Many began to see this now as a cause for discrimination on top of assault. One post even stated, “it’s straight up discrimination” and another “said they would never fly with United again in [their] life” (Petroff). In the case of this crisis, United did not utilize social media in the best possible way because they underestimated the response that a video of this magnitude would gain in a matter of moments.

While it is impossible to definitively gauge reactions, Munoz and his team responded in an oddly formal manner right after the incident and again a day later. The apology message released on Twitter on April 11 was much more sympathetic and probably something that should have come first, rather than the one that did not mention the passenger at all. It seems that United was so willing to respond quickly that they didn’t take the necessary steps to think through what they should respond with. Without a cohesive plan, the CEO came across unsympathetic and was scrutinized more than necessary.

What resulted was even more backlash, not only targeted at the company, but Munoz himself. Similar to as mentioned above, if Munoz made himself appear more accessible and less formal perhaps people would have responded differently. As he is the main one to deal with these issues, it would have been advantageous to perhaps hold a press conference or at least appear a bit more vocal and present. While the threats of lawsuits and a police investigation were underway, this was the perfect opportunity to show humility and humanity. It seems that a lot of companies are unwilling to drop their exterior for a bit, but in large, this can aid in showcasing the company’s mission. In turn, dropping the corporate façade serves to preserve whatever little brand trust exists. People are more likely to be combative toward an unknown entity than a person who seems genuine and cares about their well being.

In the weeks following, United continued to deal with a great deal of media coverage, backlash and accusations, but Munoz did show himself in a better light by appearing in an exclusive with Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News. Munoz showed a great deal of transparency and took responsibility for the policies that were originally put in place by listing their top failures and what to focus on in the future. He appears much more likable as he relays the importance of keeping customers and their humanity in mind. This was an important step for the company to take as they rebuilt credibility, mainly because Munoz has come across robotic and apathetic to the issues that this customer faced.

Furthermore, one of Munoz’s only options in taking control of the situation was to address the issues with protocol and policies. The admission to overbooking flights has brought to light an already well-known industry issue, that airlines have taken advantage of customers for far too long. While this situation escalated to an unnecessary level, it shows that United’s policies are unethical and not in the best interest of the customer.

This proves that there needs to be changes on two levels, internal communications and external communications. The internal communications need to be more cohesive in the future; keeping in mind that if anything is leaked to the media, which will happen, that it is not insensitive to the overall public. While messages shouldn’t be packaged as a reaction to fear, it is important to keep the customer and core values in mind with every piece of communication. On another level, the external communications need to be timely, more personal and frankly, human.

With a clearer focus in the future, United can learn from this incident to hopefully not face similar ones in the future. This crisis snowballed into more and more as time went on, eventually becoming something everyone wanted to talk about. The absurdity of the event further solidified a large disconnect in internal and external policy. United employees seem to have a different understanding of protocol, which goes back to policy issues, but also in the way that this message is relayed to the public. It is one thing to have internal issues, but once they are blasted for the world to see, they show great weaknesses in a company.

In terms of the long-lasting impacts, there seem to be a few that will follow United in years to come. Specifically, the huge attention this gained in China could affect their future growth in the Asian market. While this may not deter people from flying with United, they could be more inclined to outwardly criticize leadership and practices on social media. In the months following, their stock has also been a bit turbulent, calling into question United’s reliability as a brand and top airline. Overall, being in the airline industry is quite difficult to navigate, but with United’s history, for the good and bad, they have the power overcome incidents such as this. Yet, in the future they must remember that at the root of everything, they are meant to transport passengers from place to place in a safe manner.

References

Creswell , J., & Maheshwari, S. (2017, April 11). United Grapples With PR Crisis Over Videos of Man Being Dragged Off Plane. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/business/united-airline-passenger-overbooked-flights.html

Lien, T. (2017, April 11). Before apologizing on Tuesday, United tried two unsuccessful tactics to quell its public relations crisis. The LA Times. Retrieved November from http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-united-wont-apologize-20170411-htmlstory.html

Petroff, A. (2017, April 11). United Airlines shows how to make a PR crisis a total disaster. CNN Money. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/united-passenger-pr-disaster/index.html

Silva, D. (2017, April 27). United CEO blames dragging on 'system failure', unveils new policies. NBC News. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/united-ceo-oscar-munoz-blames-david-dao-incident-system-failure-n751661