Oscar Munoz started as United’s CEO in 2015, by March 2017 named “Communicator of the Year” by PRWeek. Unfortunately, he fell from grace a month later due to United’s botched response to a flight-related incident.106 SUNDAY, APRIL 9: CHAOS ON FLIGHT 3411 A fully booked United flight 3411 was preparing to depart from Chicago to Louisville when gate agents realized that four airline crew members needed to get to Louisville. The gate agents asked for four volunteers to give up their seats in return for compensation. No one accepted United’s offer because the flight was the last one to Louisville that evening. United then decided to enact an “involuntary de-boarding situation,” in which four random passengers were directed to deplane. Three of the passengers deplaned without incident. The fourth, Dr. David Dao, refused, saying “I can’t get off the plane. I have to get home. I’m a doctor. I have to get to the hospital in the morning,” according to The Sentinel News.107 United employees responded to Dao by contacting the Chicago Department of Aviation Security. A scuffle broke out between the officers and Dao when they tried to forcibly remove him from the plane, resulting in a concussion, broken teeth, a broken nose, and other injuries for Dr. Dao. The bloodied image of Dr. Dao was posted on social media and rapidly spread around the world.108 MONDAY, APRIL 10: UNITED’S INITIAL RESPONSE A series of communication blunders transpired the next day: United released a statement apologizing for the “overbook situation.” The airline would later backtrack and clarify that the flight was not actually overbooked, and passengers were removed to make space for United employees. CEO Munoz released a public statement on Twitter calling the incident an “upsetting event,” but did not address the treatment of passenger Dao. He apologized to the passengers who were involuntarily deplaned but called their removal “re-accommodation.”109 According to Sean Czarnecki of PRWeek, the word “re-accommodate” was then “lodged in the Internet lexicon as a United Airlines euphemism for brutally assaulting your customers.”110 CEO Munoz sent an internal letter to United employees blaming Dr. Dao for what happened, calling him “disruptive and belligerent.” He also stated that he fully supported his employees’ handling of the situation.111 The internal letter quickly became public, which flamed the negative publicity. News outlets compared videos of a bloodied and bruised passenger being dragged off an aircraft with United’s defensive, un-empathetic, written responses.112 The result was outrage on social media with thousands of flyers signing a petition demanding Munoz’s resignation. Many also called for a boycott of United, whose slogan of “Fly the Friendly Skies” was tarnished by the incident.113 In fact, a survey conducted by Morning Consult found that nearly half of the respondents said they would pick a more expensive, longer flight to avoid giving United their business.114 TUESDAY, APRIL 11: UNITED CHANGES COURSE A turbulent day on Wall Street kicked off after United’s initial response to the incident. The airline started the morning losing nearly $1 billion in stock value. Munoz responded by releasing another written statement. This time he struck a different tone and took “full responsibility” for the episode and said that Dr. Dao should not have been “mistreated” the way he was. The airline also pledged to conduct a review and quickly release findings. Although the statement helped reduce the stock’s slide, United still closed the day down around $250 million.115 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12: MUNOZ APPEARS ON TV On Wednesday morning, Munoz utilized another medium of communication by appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning, America.” His body language was solemn as he said he felt “shame” when he saw the video of Dao being dragged off the plane. “This can never—will never—happen again on a United Airlines flight. That’s my premise and that’s my promise,” Munoz told viewers.116Page 376 The airline’s efforts may not have been enough to turn the tide. A survey taken by LendEDU after Munoz’s TV appearance found that 42 percent of millennials, the most frequent business travelers of any generation, would still not fly with United.117 A TOUGH COUPLE OF WEEKS FOR MUNOZ AND UNITED The crucial conversations spurred by flight 3411 continued for weeks after the incident. United published full-page ads in several major U.S. newspapers in late April. The ads included an apology from Munoz. “That day, corporate policies were placed ahead of shared values,” said United’s CEO. The ads also outlined how the airline was changing its policies to prevent the reoccurrence of such an incident.118 Munoz’s handling of the situation took a toll on his career at United. The airline’s parent company, United Continental Holdings, denied the CEO’s planned promotion to chairman weeks after the incident.119 Ironically, he too lost a seat he expected to receive. Define the problem in 350 to 400 words
Oscar Munoz started as United’s CEO in 2015, by March 2017 named “Communicator of the Year” by PRWeek. Unfortunately, he fell from grace a month later due to United’s botched response to a flight-related incident.106
SUNDAY, APRIL 9: CHAOS ON FLIGHT 3411
A fully booked United flight 3411 was preparing to depart from Chicago to Louisville when gate agents realized that four airline crew members needed to get to Louisville. The gate agents asked for four volunteers to give up their seats in return for compensation. No one accepted United’s offer because the flight was the last one to Louisville that evening. United then decided to enact an “involuntary de-boarding situation,” in which four random passengers were directed to deplane. Three of the passengers deplaned without incident. The fourth, Dr. David Dao, refused, saying “I can’t get off the plane. I have to get home. I’m a doctor. I have to get to the hospital in the morning,” according to The Sentinel News.107
United employees responded to Dao by contacting the Chicago Department of Aviation Security. A scuffle broke out between the officers and Dao when they tried to forcibly remove him from the plane, resulting in a concussion, broken teeth, a broken nose, and other injuries for Dr. Dao. The bloodied image of Dr. Dao was posted on social media and rapidly spread around the world.108
MONDAY, APRIL 10: UNITED’S INITIAL RESPONSE
A series of communication blunders transpired the next day:
United released a statement apologizing for the “overbook situation.” The airline would later backtrack and clarify that the flight was not actually overbooked, and passengers were removed to make space for United employees.
CEO Munoz released a public statement on Twitter calling the incident an “upsetting event,” but did not address the treatment of passenger Dao. He apologized to the passengers who were involuntarily deplaned but called their removal “re-accommodation.”109 According to Sean Czarnecki of PRWeek, the word “re-accommodate” was then “lodged in the Internet lexicon as a United Airlines euphemism for brutally assaulting your customers.”110
CEO Munoz sent an internal letter to United employees blaming Dr. Dao for what happened, calling him “disruptive and belligerent.” He also stated that he fully supported his employees’ handling of the situation.111 The internal letter quickly became public, which flamed the negative publicity.
News outlets compared videos of a bloodied and bruised passenger being dragged off an aircraft with United’s defensive, un-empathetic, written responses.112 The result was outrage on social media with thousands of flyers signing a petition demanding Munoz’s resignation. Many also called for a boycott of United, whose slogan of “Fly the Friendly Skies” was tarnished by the incident.113 In fact, a survey conducted by Morning Consult found that nearly half of the respondents said they would pick a more expensive, longer flight to avoid giving United their business.114
TUESDAY, APRIL 11: UNITED CHANGES COURSE
A turbulent day on Wall Street kicked off after United’s initial response to the incident. The airline started the morning losing nearly $1 billion in stock value.
Munoz responded by releasing another written statement. This time he struck a different tone and took “full responsibility” for the episode and said that Dr. Dao should not have been “mistreated” the way he was. The airline also pledged to conduct a review and quickly release findings. Although the statement helped reduce the stock’s slide, United still closed the day down around $250 million.115
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12: MUNOZ APPEARS ON TV
On Wednesday morning, Munoz utilized another medium of communication by appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning, America.” His body language was solemn as he said he felt “shame” when he saw the video of Dao being dragged off the plane. “This can never—will never—happen again on a United Airlines flight. That’s my premise and that’s my promise,” Munoz told viewers.116Page 376
The airline’s efforts may not have been enough to turn the tide. A survey taken by LendEDU after Munoz’s TV appearance found that 42 percent of millennials, the most frequent business travelers of any generation, would still not fly with United.117
A TOUGH COUPLE OF WEEKS FOR MUNOZ AND UNITED
The crucial conversations spurred by flight 3411 continued for weeks after the incident. United published full-page ads in several major U.S. newspapers in late April. The ads included an apology from Munoz. “That day, corporate policies were placed ahead of shared values,” said United’s CEO. The ads also outlined how the airline was changing its policies to prevent the reoccurrence of such an incident.118
Munoz’s handling of the situation took a toll on his career at United. The airline’s parent company, United Continental Holdings, denied the CEO’s planned promotion to chairman weeks after the incident.119 Ironically, he too lost a seat he expected to receive.
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