United Airlines, From Crisis To Disaster

April 09, 2017, a footage of a passenger being dragged out of an overbooked flight aboard of the United Airline has went viral on social media. The huge online backlash has definitively affected the overall brand image.

Photo courtesy http://abc7chicago.com/news/who-is-the-kentucky-doctor-dragged-from-the-united-plane/1861682/

With Spring break right around the corner, browsing for the best destination / flight / hotel accommodation has taken up a big section of my daily tasks. However, while comparing airline fares, I couldn't help myself but to recall the United Airline incident. What a nightmare! Imagine yourself being dragged out of a plane by a police officer because of an overbooked flight? I would definitely crumble to tears, to say the least, specially if the plane was about to take me home!

The footage shot from a passenger video camera, had a huge backfire on social media. Outrageous and furious, the online community even called for a boycott of all United Airlines. Needless to say the brand suffered from an economical drop, up until a few months following the incident. However the crisis could have been attenuated at some level has it been dealt with in a corrective manner.

United Airline Incident From Crisis To Total Disaster

One would think that once the video was live, there was only one way to try an control the crisis — through an honest apology. However, instead Oscar Munoz, UA CEO waited a full day to issue a poorly executed statement. #CrisisToDisaster

"I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers." Oscar Munoz

Clearly Mr. Munoz' apology did not match the gravity of the famous footage. Instead of publicly addressing the issue of customer care, Mr. Munoz preferred to remain shallow and broad in his statement. One might even think that he did not quite understand the negative reputation the video has imprinted on the global community. Although this statement was followed by three other official apologies across several media, the disaster was already called for.

When In Crisis Act Fast

If I were to set my oven on fire while attempting to cook at home, I would DIRECTLY call for help to avoid any further damage #Don'tWorryMom. As banal and obvious as this example may seem, I think it is a good analogy to understand how one should act when faced with a social media crisis. In the digital world, brands are witnessing a daily stream of negative reviews from unsatisfied customers. Since we live in a world where a crisis can happen to anyone at anytime and be known by all within seconds, it is important to respond quickly, honestly and on point to any negative situation (whether a comment, a photo, or video etc.). Of course it is not easy to publicly claim responsibility or state an apology, therefore help is always needed. In particular, reaching out to a PR agency would be the most efficient solution, since they would be the most suitable to manage a crisis and advise on the most efficient statement to communicate quickly to fans. Referring to a marketing agency should be your second resource as marketers are best placed to help in attempting to embellish a brand's reputation for the long run, by creating a marketing plan over the course of a year or 2.

In the case of United Airlines, the brand did not efficiently and quickly make use of their PR resources which led to calling the crisis a disaster. However, UA did reach out later on to their marketing agency in order to create am efficient marketing plan positioning the company as a "caring for customer company" offering several promotions in order to remain operational in a competing industry.

Whether it is an effective plan remains to be discussed...

For those of you who would like to recall the incident, here is a link to watch the footage

https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/10/travel/passenger-removed-united-flight-trnd/index.html

Don't hesitate to share your results and opinion in the comments!