I never thought it would be beneficial to bring boxing gloves onto a plane until the United Airlines fiasco happened in early April. The airline overbooked a flight and forced a 69-year-old man off the plane. This man refused to leave his seat because he was a doctor and had patients he needed to attend to the next morning.
United asked passengers to give up their seats, but when no one stepped up, the doctor was chosen at random. A video went viral of him being dragged off the plane by his arms. His shirt was riding up and his face was bloody. Passengers on the plane were horrified by this mistreatment.
First off, releasing a statement when a crisis occurs is very helpful. Every word and sentence should count and be able to stand on its own. Oscar Munoz, United’s CEO, wrote in a statement, “I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened.”
There are multiple things wrong with this statement. First, Munoz didn’t mention the man being mistreated and forced off the plane. He didn’t apologize to the man for being dragged by his arms against his will. He did not address the real issue. The passenger wasn’t re-accommodated…he was assaulted.
In a letter that Munoz wrote to United employees, he explains how employees “followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this”. He stated that he stands behind all of his employees to “ensure we fly right”. He finishes this statement by saying “Treating our customers and each other with respect and dignity is at the core of who we are”
I don’t think dragging a passenger off of a plane is an “established procedure." The action of forcing the 69-year-old man off the plane doesn’t align with respect or dignity. Munoz was contradicting himself and wasn’t being transparent with the public.
Transparency is very important—hiding negative parts of a story can extend the crisis and make it even worse than it was to begin with. Never miss an opportunity to tell your side of the story. If you don’t speak up, others will.
Finally, on April 11, United Airlines released a new statement from Munoz that referred to the situation as a “truly horrific event." He explained how everyone, including himself, felt anger and disappointment. He finally apologized for the mistreatment of the customer and said he was “disturbed by what happened on this flight." The company took full responsibility.
He followed his apologies with the actions United would take to fix what had happened. These actions included a review of crew movement, policies for giving volunteers incentives and methods of handling oversold situations, among others. He gave a specific date that the results would be communicated with the public: April 30. He finished his statement by saying “I promise you we will do better."
Three values from the PRSA Code of Ethics are honesty, fairness and loyalty. In the beginning, United Airlines wasn’t honest, fair or loyal to their customers and the public. Munoz didn’t apologize to the mistreated passenger and wasn’t honest about the situation. His first statement didn’t align with his last one, lowering his credibility. United Airlines didn’t seem prepared to face a crisis.
A company should always be prepared for crises. There should be a crisis communications team or an individual experienced in crisis management. There should be a designated spokesperson who is an effective communicator.
It’s important to remember that every company is vulnerable to crises. This is why everyone needs to be prepared, or there could be a lot of damage. No company should have the “It can’t happen to us” mentality or else they won’t be prepared for crises.
Responding quickly and honestly is key—acknowledging a mistake is better than covering up a crisis because it shows responsibility. United would have been better off if Munoz had been honest and fair in his first statement. His final statement, though, included apologies, an action plan and a promise to do better.
Although United cannot undo what happened, they, as well as companies from all over the world, can learn from their mistake and hopefully never repeat it.
