After the ugly incident in which security removed a passenger from a flight Sunday because it need to clear out a seat for one of its employees, United Airlines did not help its PR cause by having its CEO initially respond with a tweet that kinda, sorta apologized, but not really.
CEO Oscar Munoz offered a second apology on Tuesday afternoon, in which he promised to take “full responsibility” for the incident and review United’s policies, saying “no one should ever be mistreated this way.”
Still, Munoz might want to listen to this advice from some crisis-management experts and other industry insiders with suggestions on how to juggle a branding nightmare like this one without digging an ever-deeper hole for yourself and company you skipper.
Because that last thing you want to do when one of your passengers has been physically dragged out of one of your airplanes for doing nothing more than paying for a ticket, boarding, finding your seat and strapping yourself in, is get a comedy shtick from Jimmy Kimmel like this: “It’s like how we ‘re-accommodated’ El Chapo out of Mexico,” Kimmel said on late-night talk show. “That is such sanitized, say-nothing, take-no-responsibility, corporate B.S. speak. I don’t know how the guy who sent that tweet didn’t vomit when he typed it out.”
Here’s what the experts told this newspaper, Ad Age and other media outlets:
David Satterfield, Executive Vice President and co-founder of G.F.BUNTING+CO, which works closely with CEOs, boards of directors, startups and others on media relations and reputation management:
“We now live in this era of instant videos taken on cell phones and what you saw with the United incident was a snippet of what was certainly a long incident, but a snippet that was clearly the worst part of it. There are a couple of issues United needs to deal with right now: one is overbooking, because it’s a common practice among airlines and they need to talk about their procedures and whether, in this case, they followed those procedures and if they followed them wisely. Transparency is also huge in this case: United needs to tell the world ‘Here’s what we do’ and whether they followed their own guidelines. And they need to do it quickly, because the only thing the world is seeing right now is this guy being dragged forcibly off of an airplane. And if you avoid or evade the truth, the truth will come back to bite you.’’
Gordon Bethune, former CEO of United Airlines parent company Continental Holdings’ Chief Executive:
“Denied boarding is usually handled with a whole lot more maturity. “(United) tries to do a professional job, but not everybody on the plane is professional. This immature reaction disturbs us all.” He suggested Munoz issue an apology, which the CEO did, sort of. “I’m sure there will be reconciliation … some effort to show they care about passengers.”
Eric Rose, a crisis management expert with Los Angeles-based Englander, Knabe & Allen:
“This is what we call in crisis management ‘creating your own crisis,” he said, echoing what many PR experts in suggesting United could have handled the incident more tactfully, such as offering more compensation to coax a passenger out of their seat. “They created their own crisis and handled it miserably.”
Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing, Kellogg School of Management:
“The top priority is reaching the customers on the flight, especially the people who were removed. United should do whatever it takes to address their concerns. United also needs to express remorse for what happened. An advertising effort seems appropriate. Then United needs to assemble a team to figure out what happened and how to prevent it. In particular, what company policies led to this action? United should move with speed and commitment to get ahead of this.”
Howard Fencl, VP, Hennes Communications:
“United CEO Oscar Munoz needed to immediately apologize. He did not. Instead, he offered a non-apology, ‘for having to re-accommodate these customers.’ Basically, he is apologizing for their overbooking policy, and not the violence and humiliation their passenger suffered, or the emotional distress it caused all the other passengers witnessing this unnecessary event. Ultimately, the bigger picture here is that United needs to overhaul its overbooking policy. If it is known that a flight crew needs to take seats with passengers on a flight, that must be known well enough in advance that employees staffing the gate make room for them before passengers are boarded.”
Gene Grabowski, partner, Kglobal:
“In the face of the online video, apologies and assurances that United is looking into the matter aren’t enough. United would be well advised to announce that it is hiring a person of stature and who is well-respected to very visibly oversee and repair the airline’s customer service operation.”
Maarten L. Albarda, CEO, Flock Associates USA:
“The best thing is to very publicly rectify the wrong that has been seen around the world. You can’t even begin to explain it or make it factual. What matters is the perception, so UA needs to address that publicly, and then lay low for a little bit. The most important thing for UA is to review what happens on the shop floor. How come employees from UA felt that this solution was the best strategy? How well are the social media teams briefed on, structured for and empowered to address issues like these? Is there a clear escalation process?”
Matt Rizzetta, CEO, North 6th Agency:
“If the initial reaction on social media and at office watercoolers is any indication, United has already lost a significant group of customers. Right now United would be best served to approach its communications strategy into two customer retention buckets; one for customers that are still remaining loyal to the brand, and one for customers that claim they are never coming back to the brand. For the first bucket it’s all about quick and swift communication that reinforces United’s values and shows immediate differentiation from the competition. The second bucket is a long-term strategy that will require a more personalized approach and can only be rebuilt over time.”
