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*PR CASE STUDIES*
Ishola Ayodele

Case Study 20

*United Airlines; Great Example of How Not to Handle A Crisis*

It was George Santayana who said, *"Those who cannot remember the past*
*are condemned to repeat it."* The recent United Airlines' crisis has proven this statement to be eternal truth.

Those that have bought my PR Case Studies learning Resources, would have read or watch how united airlines faced public condemnations over a broken guitar in 2014.

Rather than learning from that crisis to put in place a better crisis management plan they are back in 2017 with even worst crisis.

For an airline which boasts of the slogan *‘fly the friendly skies’* the United Airlines response to a video footage showing a bloodied passenger (a 69-year-old Asian man, believed to be a doctor) being forcibly dragged out of its planes in what appears to be a case of overbooked flight was strangely lacking in empathy.

Social media and mainstream media went up in flame as footage captured by other passengers of the man being dragged off the aircraft went viral.

Jane Jordan-Meier in her very insightful book “The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management” described Stage two of crisis as the ‘unfolding drama’ where reporters are keen interested in your responds to the crisis and how you respond we make or mal the reputation of your company in the media.

Unfortunately for Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines Oscar Munoz, he blew it and escalated the crisis with this statement:

“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize (SIC) 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 with him to address and resolve the situation.”

Responses from the public

1) Online outrage about United's behaviour and response, which has led to a hashtag of #boycottUnited.

2) Its reputation took an undeniably severe blow. The story has gone viral around the world, including on Chinese social media site Weibo.

3) US authorities launched an investigation into the matter, with the Department of Transportation saying it "remains committed to protecting the rights of consumers".

You cannot put your company first in a situation where a customer has been brutalized. What is required of united airline boss was a sincere apology and empathy for the bloodied customer.

According to Adam Fisher a crisis management expert Munoz should have said something like
“We are truly sorry about the way one of our passengers was treated in the incident on our aeroplane on Sunday and I will be apologising personally to him. I have seen the footage and it is shocking and upsetting. We have launched an investigation and I am determined to understand exactly what happened, but clearly this did not meet the standard of customer service I would expect. I will take all the necessary steps to ensure this never happens again.”

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough for Munoz he sent an email to employees off course in a crisis situation it is important that staff are kept informed about the incident and managements steps.

But minding your language and not assuming that this type of communication is private is also crucial. The CEO also got it wrong to say the least in my attempt to resist insulting him.

In his email he described the brutalized passenger as *‘disruptive and belligerent’* and praised staff for going ‘above and beyond’.

The result?

More damaging headlines appear as reporters got hold of this email.
Here are a couple of examples:

*United CEO blames ‘belligerent’ customer for overbooked flight melee*
Huffington Post

*United’s staff memo makes the internet even angrier – yes, that’s possible*
Mashable

And here is how social media reacted to it:

This letter is *almost* worse than the original issue. Really poor judgement lately, @united
https:///WRaDUCdsfa
— Raleigh Mecklin (@raleigh_mecklin) April 11, 2017

United Continental shares initially dropped 4% on Tuesday before recovering slightly to finish down 1%

After so much pressure and falling share prices, another statement was issued yesterday (Tuesday, 11/04/2017) with a softer, more acceptable tone and an acceptance of responsibility.

*What are the PR lessons we can draw from this Crisis?*

*PR CASE STUDIES*
Ishola Ayodele

Case Study 20

*United Airlines; Great Example of How Not to Handle A Crisis*

It was George Santayana who said, *"Those who cannot remember the past*
*are condemned to repeat it."* The recent United Airlines' crisis has proven this statement to be eternal truth.

Those that have bought my PR Case Studies learning Resources, would have read or watch how united airlines faced public condemnations over a broken guitar in 2014.

Rather than learning from that crisis to put in place a better crisis management plan they are back in 2017 with even worst crisis.

For an airline which boasts of the slogan *‘fly the friendly skies’* the United Airlines response to a video footage showing a bloodied passenger (a 69-year-old Asian man, believed to be a doctor) being forcibly dragged out of its planes in what appears to be a case of overbooked flight was strangely lacking in empathy.

Social media and mainstream media went up in flame as footage captured by other passengers of the man being dragged off the aircraft went viral.

Jane Jordan-Meier in her very insightful book “The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management” described Stage two of crisis as the ‘unfolding drama’ where reporters are keen interested in your responds to the crisis and how you respond we make or mal the reputation of your company in the media.

Unfortunately for Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines Oscar Munoz, he blew it and escalated the crisis with this statement:

“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize (SIC) 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 with him to address and resolve the situation.”

Responses from the public

1) Online outrage about United's behaviour and response, which has led to a hashtag of #boycottUnited.

2) Its reputation took an undeniably severe blow. The story has gone viral around the world, including on Chinese social media site Weibo.

3) US authorities launched an investigation into the matter, with the Department of Transportation saying it "remains committed to protecting the rights of consumers".

You cannot put your company first in a situation where a customer has been brutalized. What is required of united airline boss was a sincere apology and empathy for the bloodied customer.

According to Adam Fisher a crisis management expert Munoz should have said something like
“We are truly sorry about the way one of our passengers was treated in the incident on our aeroplane on Sunday and I will be apologising personally to him. I have seen the footage and it is shocking and upsetting. We have launched an investigation and I am determined to understand exactly what happened, but clearly this did not meet the standard of customer service I would expect. I will take all the necessary steps to ensure this never happens again.”

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough for Munoz he sent an email to employees off course in a crisis situation it is important that staff are kept informed about the incident and managements steps.

But minding your language and not assuming that this type of communication is private is also crucial. The CEO also got it wrong to say the least in my attempt to resist insulting him.

In his email he described the brutalized passenger as *‘disruptive and belligerent’* and praised staff for going ‘above and beyond’.

The result?

More damaging headlines appear as reporters got hold of this email.
Here are a couple of examples:

*United CEO blames ‘belligerent’ customer for overbooked flight melee*
Huffington Post

*United’s staff memo makes the internet even angrier – yes, that’s possible*
Mashable

And here is how social media reacted to it:

This letter is *almost* worse than the original issue. Really poor judgement lately, @united
https:///WRaDUCdsfa
— Raleigh Mecklin (@raleigh_mecklin) April 11, 2017

United Continental shares initially dropped 4% on Tuesday before recovering slightly to finish down 1%

After so much pressure and falling share prices, another statement was issued yesterday (Tuesday, 11/04/2017) with a softer, more acceptable tone and an acceptance of responsibility.

*What are the PR lessons we can draw from this Crisis?*

Order for updated PR CASE STUDIES here...

*PR CASE STUDIES*
Ishola Ayodele

Case Study 20

*United Airlines; Great Example of How Not to Handle A Crisis*

It was George Santayana who said, *"Those who cannot remember the past*
*are condemned to repeat it."* The recent United Airlines' crisis has proven this statement to be eternal truth.

Those that have bought my PR Case Studies learning Resources, would have read or watch how united airlines faced public condemnations over a broken guitar in 2014.

Rather than learning from that crisis to put in place a better crisis management plan they are back in 2017 with even worst crisis.

For an airline which boasts of the slogan *‘fly the friendly skies’* the United Airlines response to a video footage showing a bloodied passenger (a 69-year-old Asian man, believed to be a doctor) being forcibly dragged out of its planes in what appears to be a case of overbooked flight was strangely lacking in empathy.

Social media and mainstream media went up in flame as footage captured by other passengers of the man being dragged off the aircraft went viral.

Jane Jordan-Meier in her very insightful book “The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management” described Stage two of crisis as the ‘unfolding drama’ where reporters are keen interested in your responds to the crisis and how you respond we make or mal the reputation of your company in the media.

Unfortunately for Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines Oscar Munoz, he blew it and escalated the crisis with this statement:

“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize (SIC) 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 with him to address and resolve the situation.”

Responses from the public

1) Online outrage about United's behaviour and response, which has led to a hashtag of #boycottUnited.

2) Its reputation took an undeniably severe blow. The story has gone viral around the world, including on Chinese social media site Weibo.

3) US authorities launched an investigation into the matter, with the Department of Transportation saying it "remains committed to protecting the rights of consumers".

You cannot put your company first in a situation where a customer has been brutalized. What is required of united airline boss was a sincere apology and empathy for the bloodied customer.

According to Adam Fisher a crisis management expert Munoz should have said something like
“We are truly sorry about the way one of our passengers was treated in the incident on our aeroplane on Sunday and I will be apologising personally to him. I have seen the footage and it is shocking and upsetting. We have launched an investigation and I am determined to understand exactly what happened, but clearly this did not meet the standard of customer service I would expect. I will take all the necessary steps to ensure this never happens again.”

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough for Munoz he sent an email to employees off course in a crisis situation it is important that staff are kept informed about the incident and managements steps.

But minding your language and not assuming that this type of communication is private is also crucial. The CEO also got it wrong to say the least in my attempt to resist insulting him.

In his email he described the brutalized passenger as *‘disruptive and belligerent’* and praised staff for going ‘above and beyond’.

The result?

More damaging headlines appear as reporters got hold of this email.
Here are a couple of examples:

*United CEO blames ‘belligerent’ customer for overbooked flight melee*
Huffington Post

*United’s staff memo makes the internet even angrier – yes, that’s possible*
Mashable

And here is how social media reacted to it:

This letter is *almost* worse than the original issue. Really poor judgement lately, @united
https:///WRaDUCdsfa
— Raleigh Mecklin (@raleigh_mecklin) April 11, 2017

United Continental shares initially dropped 4% on Tuesday before recovering slightly to finish down 1%

After so much pressure and falling share prices, another statement was issued yesterday (Tuesday, 11/04/2017) with a softer, more acceptable tone and an acceptance of responsibility.

*What are the PR lessons we can draw from this Crisis?*

*PR CASE STUDIES*
Ishola Ayodele

Case Study 20

*United Airlines; Great Example of How Not to Handle A Crisis*

It was George Santayana who said, *"Those who cannot remember the past*
*are condemned to repeat it."* The recent United Airlines' crisis has proven this statement to be eternal truth.

Those that have bought my PR Case Studies learning Resources, would have read or watch how united airlines faced public condemnations over a broken guitar in 2014.

Rather than learning from that crisis to put in place a better crisis management plan they are back in 2017 with even worst crisis.

For an airline which boasts of the slogan *‘fly the friendly skies’* the United Airlines response to a video footage showing a bloodied passenger (a 69-year-old Asian man, believed to be a doctor) being forcibly dragged out of its planes in what appears to be a case of overbooked flight was strangely lacking in empathy.

Social media and mainstream media went up in flame as footage captured by other passengers of the man being dragged off the aircraft went viral.

Jane Jordan-Meier in her very insightful book “The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management” described Stage two of crisis as the ‘unfolding drama’ where reporters are keen interested in your responds to the crisis and how you respond we make or mal the reputation of your company in the media.

Unfortunately for Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines Oscar Munoz, he blew it and escalated the crisis with this statement:

“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize (SIC) 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 with him to address and resolve the situation.”

Responses from the public

1) Online outrage about United's behaviour and response, which has led to a hashtag of #boycottUnited.

2) Its reputation took an undeniably severe blow. The story has gone viral around the world, including on Chinese social media site Weibo.

3) US authorities launched an investigation into the matter, with the Department of Transportation saying it "remains committed to protecting the rights of consumers".

You cannot put your company first in a situation where a customer has been brutalized. What is required of united airline boss was a sincere apology and empathy for the bloodied customer.

According to Adam Fisher a crisis management expert Munoz should have said something like
“We are truly sorry about the way one of our passengers was treated in the incident on our aeroplane on Sunday and I will be apologising personally to him. I have seen the footage and it is shocking and upsetting. We have launched an investigation and I am determined to understand exactly what happened, but clearly this did not meet the standard of customer service I would expect. I will take all the necessary steps to ensure this never happens again.”

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough for Munoz he sent an email to employees off course in a crisis situation it is important that staff are kept informed about the incident and managements steps.

But minding your language and not assuming that this type of communication is private is also crucial. The CEO also got it wrong to say the least in my attempt to resist insulting him.

In his email he described the brutalized passenger as *‘disruptive and belligerent’* and praised staff for going ‘above and beyond’.

The result?

More damaging headlines appear as reporters got hold of this email.
Here are a couple of examples:

*United CEO blames ‘belligerent’ customer for overbooked flight melee*
Huffington Post

*United’s staff memo makes the internet even angrier – yes, that’s possible*
Mashable

And here is how social media reacted to it:

This letter is *almost* worse than the original issue. Really poor judgement lately, @united
https:///WRaDUCdsfa
— Raleigh Mecklin (@raleigh_mecklin) April 11, 2017

United Continental shares initially dropped 4% on Tuesday before recovering slightly to finish down 1%

After so much pressure and falling share prices, another statement was issued yesterday (Tuesday, 11/04/2017) with a softer, more acceptable tone and an acceptance of responsibility.

*What are the PR lessons we can draw from this Crisis?*

*PR CASE STUDIES*
Ishola Ayodele

Case Study 20

*United Airlines; Great Example of How Not to Handle A Crisis*

It was George Santayana who said, *"Those who cannot remember the past*
*are condemned to repeat it."* The recent United Airlines' crisis has proven this statement to be eternal truth.

Those that have bought my PR Case Studies learning Resources, would have read or watch how united airlines faced public condemnations over a broken guitar in 2014.

Rather than learning from that crisis to put in place a better crisis management plan they are back in 2017 with even worst crisis.

For an airline which boasts of the slogan *‘fly the friendly skies’* the United Airlines response to a video footage showing a bloodied passenger (a 69-year-old Asian man, believed to be a doctor) being forcibly dragged out of its planes in what appears to be a case of overbooked flight was strangely lacking in empathy.

Social media and mainstream media went up in flame as footage captured by other passengers of the man being dragged off the aircraft went viral.

Jane Jordan-Meier in her very insightful book “The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management” described Stage two of crisis as the ‘unfolding drama’ where reporters are keen interested in your responds to the crisis and how you respond we make or mal the reputation of your company in the media.

Unfortunately for Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines Oscar Munoz, he blew it and escalated the crisis with this statement:

“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize (SIC) 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 with him to address and resolve the situation.”

Responses from the public

1) Online outrage about United's behaviour and response, which has led to a hashtag of #boycottUnited.

2) Its reputation took an undeniably severe blow. The story has gone viral around the world, including on Chinese social media site Weibo.

3) US authorities launched an investigation into the matter, with the Department of Transportation saying it "remains committed to protecting the rights of consumers".

You cannot put your company first in a situation where a customer has been brutalized. What is required of united airline boss was a sincere apology and empathy for the bloodied customer.

According to Adam Fisher a crisis management expert Munoz should have said something like
“We are truly sorry about the way one of our passengers was treated in the incident on our aeroplane on Sunday and I will be apologising personally to him. I have seen the footage and it is shocking and upsetting. We have launched an investigation and I am determined to understand exactly what happened, but clearly this did not meet the standard of customer service I would expect. I will take all the necessary steps to ensure this never happens again.”

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough for Munoz he sent an email to employees off course in a crisis situation it is important that staff are kept informed about the incident and managements steps.

But minding your language and not assuming that this type of communication is private is also crucial. The CEO also got it wrong to say the least in my attempt to resist insulting him.

In his email he described the brutalized passenger as *‘disruptive and belligerent’* and praised staff for going ‘above and beyond’.

The result?

More damaging headlines appear as reporters got hold of this email.
Here are a couple of examples:

*United CEO blames ‘belligerent’ customer for overbooked flight melee*
Huffington Post

*United’s staff memo makes the internet even angrier – yes, that’s possible*
Mashable

And here is how social media reacted to it:

This letter is *almost* worse than the original issue. Really poor judgement lately, @united
https:///WRaDUCdsfa
— Raleigh Mecklin (@raleigh_mecklin) April 11, 2017

United Continental shares initially dropped 4% on Tuesday before recovering slightly to finish down 1%

After so much pressure and falling share prices, another statement was issued yesterday (Tuesday, 11/04/2017) with a softer, more acceptable tone and an acceptance of responsibility.

*What are the PR lessons we can draw from this Crisis?*

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