Man Dragged off United Flight

Avgirl said:
The big bad corporation argument. Always falls flat. Good thing you don't run a business, because it wouldn't last long...
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Regardless of what you think of the initial incident, United has handled the situation after the fact incredibly poorly. They've gone from apologizing over the incident initially, to aggressively blaming the passenger, and now back to profusely apologizing after they realized they were getting blasted in the court of public opinion and everywhere else.

I agree with Joe, this is going to be an expensive lesson for United that shouldn't have happened.
 
Delta just today announced that they will go all the way up to offering 10Gs to get volunteers. Right about now, United is wishing they had.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
"Oh, I see you're deadheading back to base at the end of your trip. Sorry, you're not allowed to positive space."
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It would usually go something like:

The day before a DH I would see that neither myself or crew were listed for the next day's DH aboard a soon to be packed 737 or RJ. Being the proactive Captain that I was, I'd make a call to scheduling to arrange it all.
Me: "Hello this is CA Baronman, my crew and I are DHing tomorrow and we'd like to get listed for tomorrow's flight..."

Scheduling: "Ummmm......hold on one minute........Umm....we can't seem to list you today, why don't you call us back tomorrow when you're face to face with the gate agent. They might be able to help, our system isn't letting us. Click."

Me: "FML"
 
FlyingAccountant said:
Regardless of what you think of the initial incident, United has handled the situation after the fact incredibly poorly. They've gone from apologizing over the incident initially, to aggressively blaming the passenger, and now back to profusely apologizing after they realized they were getting blasted in the court of public opinion and everywhere else.

I agree with Joe, this is going to be an expensive lesson for United that shouldn't have happened.
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It's a PR nightmare, that's for sure. That department needs to be cleared out without a doubt and better qualified people need to be brought in to manage all facets, especially social media.

But, creating a culture where people can name their price creates more problems. Frankly, I think that there must be flat amount compensation rules. DL can offer that cap all they want to with a high reward for someone giving up their seat, but you know they will find every way possible to find a way around it with fine print, conditions and terms.
 
Avgirl said:
It's a PR nightmare, that's for sure. That department needs to be cleared out without a doubt and better qualified people need to be brought in to manage all facets, especially social media.

But, creating a culture where people can name their price creates more problems. Frankly, I think that there must be flat amount compensation rules. DL can offer that cap all they want to with a high reward for someone giving up their seat, but you know they will find every way possible to find a way around it with fine print, conditions and terms.
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Eh. It is a PR nightmare, but at the same time is there absolutely anyone on this planet that was swayed one way or another by their response? Whether they back up their employees or apologize for what happened 99.9% of peoples' opinions are already made up on the matter.
 
Luigi said:
I'm reconsidering my life choices.
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I'm not saying that I don't agree with your assessment on the person you were mentioning. Just it seems pretty childish to A) have to put someone on ignore and B) call them out anyway when you won't be able to see their response.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
Eh. It is a PR nightmare, but at the same time is there absolutely anyone on this planet that was swayed one way or another by their response? Whether they back up their employees or apologize for what happened 99.9% of peoples' opinions are already made up on the matter.
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They're weren't backing up their employees previously and that's what caused the problem. Why weren't they pushing the cash they were legally required to instead of the worthless vouchers sooner? I can't imagine the gate agent's prime concern was to save the company as much money as possible, but I'm sure there are policies in place to make sure that they do at the expense of the customer. The fact that they in all likelihood made their ramp agents as powerless as possible is what caused this, that and likely skimped on training or trained them poorly.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
Eh. It is a PR nightmare, but at the same time is there absolutely anyone on this planet that was swayed one way or another by their response? Whether they back up their employees or apologize for what happened 99.9% of peoples' opinions are already made up on the matter.
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That's the problem. A good PR department can sway people. The problem was that they kept releasing statements from the CEO. Not sure who let him do that, but one statement is good...and a consistent and diplomatic one.
 
Avgirl said:
That's the problem. A good PR department can sway people. The problem was that they kept releasing statements from the CEO. Not sure who let him do that, but one statement is good...and a consistent and diplomatic one.
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The problem was that his first statement was really bad. I can't stress it enough how bad some of the service is at some airlines....and I must stress that it is only some of the airlines. I've had a great experience on many of them.

Heck, just a couple weeks ago on JetBlue...I observed a Captain handle a 4 hour delay in an incredibly good manner. They were picking us up from EWR, but broke on the previous leg in FLL. They ended up having to replace the plane. After everyone had boarded, he walked out of the flight deck and got on the FA's PA. He sincerely apologized for the delay, and thanked us for our patience. He emphasized how us flying JetBlue allowed him to take care of his family and thanked us again. People clapped after he was done speaking. I took notes! That's how it should be handled!
 
srn121 said:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it was probably him, being as he is the CEO.
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Someone still has to type out the statement, release it, book the interviews, and a good PR team will make sure that he stays in check. In fact, they are the first to be notified of an incident. Every big company has protocol like that. They did a great job with the big metal bird series, but crisis management isn't their thing.
 
KLB said:
The problem was that his first statement was really bad. I can't stress it enough how bad some of the service is at some airlines....and I must stress that it is only some of the airlines. I've had a great experience on many of them.

Heck, just a couple weeks ago on JetBlue...I observed a Captain handle a 4 hour delay in an incredibly good manner. They were picking us up from EWR, but broke on the previous leg in FLL. They ended up having to replace the plane. After everyone had boarded, he walked out of the flight deck and got on the FA's PA. He sincerely apologized for the delay, and thanked us for our patience. He emphasized how us flying JetBlue allowed him to take care of his family and thanked us again. People clapped after he was done speaking. I took notes! That's how it should be handled!
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That CA is a very good example and sounds like a genuine guy which is a bit rare so he related well to the pax. You have to have an emotional side, and that is where Munoz failed. He wasn't speaking to anyone, and feeding into the social media frenzy. Then backtracking, then expecting none of his employees would share that horrible letter he sent out. I guarantee this will be a case discussed in all future PR classes.
 
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