United Airlines is yet again in trouble for bad behavior. Shortly following the leggings incident occurring just last month, in which the airline stopped three young girls from boarding a flight due to their lack of compliance with their "company benefit travel" dress code, United has managed to enrage customers again within 30 days.
In this incident, passengers and onlookers alike were left traumatized after witnessing a man being dragged off of an overbooked flight leaving from Chicago.
The eventful flight was overbooked by 4 passengers, and when no one volunteered to give up their place when asked, airline security forcibly removed a doctor who protested that he needed to see patients the following day. Following the incident, the airline released an statement apologizing for "the overbook situation".
After these two controversial incidents, it's safe to say countless people are calling for a boycott, and taking to the Internet to spread their cause.
Clever Internet users are utilizing the company's slogan and tactic of encouraging consumers to "follow your wanderlust" and share travel pictures, twisting the message to display the harsh reality through wit and humor.
The incident and public response has spread across varying outlets of social media like wildfire, sparking a huge PR issue for United Airlines that will call for serious attention. How the company aims to fix their image is a problem that is will take time to solve, requiring in-depth knowledge on how to navigate the public's sensitivity and feelings as well as the best method on how to reach them.
This has definitely been a rough start to the year for United Airlines. I think the most disappointing thing about the whole situation, is the CEO response that was posted on social media platforms where United apologizes for "re-accomodating" customers (where obviously it was not re-accomodation). United will need to be proactive to try and ease tensions with consumers.
ReplyDelete