NAME : TATYANA NAJMI VIVANI

NIM : 19131030257
CLASS : IMAGE AND REPUTATION

Dear Mr. Nico,

Here’s my answer to the following question:

As a PR we must what we say and what we do. What do you think about United Airlines
crisis?

Answer:

UNITED AIRLINES CRISIS

In 2017, an overbooking problem occurred on United Airlines flight. Right before the plane
took off, United Airlines decided to take out four passengers through selection and asked
them to leave the plane. Three out of four passengers agreed to leave the plane, however
the last selected passenger who was a doctor refused and said that he had to meet his
patients the next day. As things got out of hand, the doctor was eventually violently pulled
out of his seat and dragged down the aisle causing several injuries in his face and body.
One passenger who witnessed the situation posted a video of the incident and gained more
than 400,000 views on social media.
In a blink of an eye, the incident went viral and causing United Airlines stock plunged by
multiple billion dollars. Thus, United Airlines faced their unfortunate crisis.

The main crisis actually wasn’t caused by the incident itself, but how United Airlines
handled the situation. Right after the incident went viral, United Airlines CEO, Oscar
Munoz, make a media statement regarding the incident that happened in the United
Express Flight 3411. Here’s the statement:

“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. We
 are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address
and resolve this situation”

However, many people think the response was apathetic and it resulting an upcoming
uproar. As if the United Airlines decided to make it worse, the next response from the CEO
was a letter to United employees where he stood by them that went public. The letter
included a recap of the incident and much worse they blamed the victim by describing the
passenger who was injured as “disruptive and belligerent”. The CEO’s choice of words
undoubtedly caused further outrage of netizens.
Moreover, the CEO eventually appeared in ABC news and said that he felt shame when he
saw the viral video and promised that the incident will not happen again. He also offered
full compensation for all passengers’ air tickets. Furthermore, he claimed that the apology
was not made earlier as the company was gathering facts.
Source: https://www.opuskinetic.com/2017/09/media-crisis-a-case-study-of-united-airlines/

Based on the case above, I think It’s true that as a PR, there has to be correlation between
what we say and what we do. United Airlines eventually failed to do so. As we saw from
the first statement that the United Airlines will talk directly to the victim to investigate the
incident but instead the second statement (written in the letter) the CEO was engaging
victim blaming. Of course, there was no correlation between what they said in the first
statement and what they actually do. In addition, the apology was considered late and
they should’ve done it earlier whether the passenger was guilty or not because I think they
don’t have any right to do something violent to a passenger. Hence, as the crisis broke, I
think that United Airlines didn’t seem to have such a Breaking News Protocol that decided
who should say what, when and where.