A Response from the
United CEO
On April 9, 2013, airport police removed a passenger from
a United Express Flight in Chicago in order to make room for off duty crew
members who needed to stay on the plane in order to arrive to the destination
the flight was originally supposed to fly to. The way the passenger was removed
though was rather shocking and intense as the passenger had to be dragged down
the aisle since he was refusing to step off the plane. Many passengers that
witnessed the situation pulled out their video cameras on their phone and
exposed United for the type of customer care treatment they were giving. A video of a man being dragged off the plane
with blood running down his lip isn’t exactly something customers look for when
deciding which airline they should pay for when it comes to their travels.
The video went viral in a matter of less than 24 hours.
Oscar Munoz, CEO United Airlines, responded with “This is an upsetting event to
all of us here at United. I apologize 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.” Along with
these words he mentions that he is going to fix the issue so that it never
happens again.
Although this event already unfortunately occurred, the
public has reacted negatively with the way the man was treated and there will
be lots of lost trust and less customers heading towards United Airlines way. The use of the viral video for sure is hurting
the airlines reputation and isn’t something that can be unseen. This will be
remembered for many, many years.
Natalie Torres
MKTG 3343
Despite this fiasco, United Airlines will continue sadly not too badly hurt. The idea that a passenger is taken off his seat that he paid for and already had boarded is unbelievable. The market factor behind this is that the man was an Asian American customer and the biggest market for airlines are in china. United Airlines took a huge toll in foreign markets because of confidence in a safe flight was falling. The Chinese were thinking that United Airlines were abusing their people and resulted in changed mindsets in this so called great airline.
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