Instructor’s Manual Abstracts
Vol. 2, Issue 1 IM Abstract: United Airlines: Flight 3411 Public Communication Crisis
Venus Hosseinali-Mirza
Case Overview
On Sunday, April 9, 2017, the overbooked United Airlines flight 3411 became infamous after social media videos showed a passenger being forcibly removed and dragged from his seat on the airplane by three security officers at Chicago O’Hare International Airport to make room for airline employees while other passengers on the plane shouted in protest. Subsequent social media posts showed the passenger running back onto the airplane with blood streaming down his face.[1]
On Monday, April 10, 2017, the incident information spread throughout social sites and mainstream media, and a public relations nightmare was created for United Airlines that raised questions about the validity of the airline industry.[2]
Learning Objectives
By working through this case, students should be able to
- Identify crisis type based on attribution of responsibility by applying the situational crisis communication theory to an airline industry crisis.
- Assess the initial crisis response that results in amplification/attenuation of a situation by applying the situational crisis communication theory to an airline industry crisis.
- Evaluate the United Airlines internal crisis communication strategy by applying the situational crisis communication theory to an airline industry crisis.
- Examine United Airlines’ reputation repair efforts by applying the situational crisis communication theory to an airline industry crisis.
- Discuss the social media role in an airline industry crisis.
- Recommend a crisis communication strategy based upon analysis of an airline industry crisis, with justification.
Course Suitability
This case is written for use in corporate communication and public relations courses at the graduate level. The case should be positioned near the end of the course once students have gained an understanding of communications strategies and their application. The case is tested in a workshop with graduate students titled “Crisis Communication and Management.”
Recommended Reading
Benoit, W. L. (1997). Image repair discourse and crisis communication. Public Relations Review, 23(2), 177–186.
Coombs, W. T. (1995). Choosing the right words: The development of guidelines for the selection of the “appropriate” crisis-response strategies. Management Communication Quarterly, 8(4), 447–476.
Coombs, W. T. (2007). Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory. Corporate Reputation Review, 10(3), 163–176.
Coombs, W. T. (2014, September 23). Crisis management and communications. Institute for Public Relations.
Coombs, W. T. (2015). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding, (4th ed.). Sage Publications.
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
Coombs, W. T. & Holladay, S.J. (2002). Helping crisis managers protect reputational assets: Initial tests of the situational crisis communication theory. Management Communication Quarterly, 16, 165–186.
Read the United Airlines: Flight 3411 Public Communication Crisis case.
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