Submitted by- Apeksha Gupta

Roll no.- PGP12216

David Dao on United Airlines
The Issue:
Many angry customers boycotted United Airlines after the crew of flight 3411 from Chicago O'Hare International
Airport to Louisville, Kentucky asked airport security officers to drag out customer Dr. David Dao from his seat due
to an overbooked flight on April 9, 2017.
According to the airline's statements, Dr. David Dao refused to give up his seat to some crew members who needed
to get to Chicago. The United crew had to request that security officers remove the man from the plane. People were
filming and uploading footage to social media while all of this was going on.
The video of Dr. Dao covered in blood and being dragged down the aisle went viral on Twitter and Facebook,
destroying not only United Airlines' customer loyalty but also other airlines' efforts to implement new policies to
increase profits from baggage, seat reservations, and other services.

Evaluation of Alternatives & Recommendations

1. Better Staff Training: The benefits of training and retraining employees include being able to deescalate
violent situations, making employees feel empowered to handle an issue in a timely and correct manner,
and helping to repair a tarnished reputation from previous incidents. Training and retraining employees can
reduce employee turnover, improve company image, increase efficiency, which leads to increased profit,
and increase employee motivation. The disadvantages of staff training and retraining include: Staff training
takes time and money, both of which are not always available. According to Wisestep.com, staff training
and retraining can also increase worker stress, decrease employee interest, and increase turnover.
2. Better Advertisement of Rules and Guidelines:The benefits of better informing consumers about
company rules and guidelines include: safely informing the consumer about how certain situations are
handled so that there is no confusion or grey area, making the consumer feel safer, and reducing backlash if
a situation arises. According to an article on Raps.org, the FDA announced a new approach to drug
advertising, claiming that small print and larger words are too confusing for consumers. The disadvantages
of making rules and guidelines more accessible are as follows: Profit loss as a result of full disclosure to
consumers.
3. New Safety Procedures for Staff: The benefits of developing new safety procedures for employees
include safer situations, the ability to solve problems without resorting to violence, and a better company
image. The disadvantages of developing new procedures include: consuming valuable company resources
such as time and money.

United Airlines' best option is to develop new safety procedures for its employees. These procedures will ensure not
only the safety of the staff, but also the safety of the passengers. New procedures necessitate new training, so
employees will be retrained on the new procedures and learn how to deal with difficult problems more effectively.
United's reputation will begin to improve as consumers see that the company has begun to make positive changes to
ensure that nothing like what happened to David Dao happens again. Profits lost due to retraining will most likely be
recovered once sales increase as a result of the improved reputation. Employee morale and efficiency will improve,
resulting in cost savings. United can easily recover as a company and brand if they take these steps toward admitting
their mistake and doing something about it.