United Airlines: Flight 3411 Public Communication Crisis

All figures in United States dollars unless otherwise noted.

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]

United Airlines Response to Flight 3411 Incident

Monday, April 10, 2017

News regarding the United Airlines Flight 3411 incident spread rapidly throughout social media sites and mainstream media. A public relations crisis was created for United Airlines.^[2]

Monday, April 10, 2017, Midday

Oscar Munoz, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), United Airlines, released the first written public statement in response to public backlash against the company regarding the flight 3411 incident.

First Public Statement: United Airlines Response to United Express Flight 3411, April 10, 2017^[3]

This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.

—Oscar Munoz, CEO, United Airlines

Munoz’s response was publicly criticized for lack of sensations, empathy, and feelings.^[4][5]

Monday, April 10, 2017, Evening

In Munoz’s second written statement, he addressed the employees in an email that was then leaked to social media and the press.

Leaked Email to Employees^[6]

Dear Team,

Like you, I was upset to see and hear about what happened last night aboard United Express Flight 3411 headed from Chicago to Louisville.

While the facts and circumstances are still evolving, especially with respect to why this customer defied Chicago Aviation Security Officers the way he did, to give you a clearer picture of what transpired, I’ve included below a recap from the preliminary reports filed by our employees.

As you will read, this situation was unfortunately compounded when one of the passengers we politely asked to deplane refused and it became necessary to contact Chicago Aviation Security Officers to help. Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this. While I deeply regret this situation arose, I also emphatically stand behind all of you, and I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond to ensure we fly right.

I do, however, believe there are lessons we can learn from this experience, and we are taking a close look at the circumstances surrounding this incident.

Treating our customers and each other with respect and dignity is at the core of who we are, and we must always remember this no matter how challenging the situation.

Oscar

Munoz added a summary of the Flight 3411 incident in which he called the passenger “disruptive and belligerent,” which public responses described as being offensive and insensitive.^[7][8]

Summary of Flight 3411^[9]

• On Sunday, April 9, after United Express Flight 3411 was fully boarded, United’s gate agents were approached by crewmembers that were told they needed to board the flight.

• We sought volunteers and then followed our involuntary denial of boarding process (including offering up to $1,000 in compensation) and when we approached one of these passengers to explain apologetically that he was being denied boarding, he raised his voice and refused to comply with crew member instructions.

• He was approached a few more times after that in order to gain his compliance to come off the aircraft, and each time he refused and became more and more disruptive and belligerent.

• Our agents were left with no choice but to call Chicago Aviation Security Officers to assist in removing the customer from the flight. He repeatedly declined to leave.

• Chicago Aviation Security Officers were unable to gain his cooperation and physically removed him from the flight as he continued to resist – running back onto the aircraft in defiance of both our crew and security officials.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Munoz testified before the House Transportation Committee in the U.S. Congress to explain the forcible removal of the passenger.^[10] That same day, shares of United fell 6.3% in pre-market trading, dropping $1.4 billion in value.^[11]

Online Public Backlash

The first footage posted on social media was taken by a passenger who tweeted: “#United overbooked and wanted four of us to volunteer to give up our seats for personnel that needed to be at work the next day”^[12][13] The passenger was identified as Dr. David Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese American physician, whose lawyer later announced that he could require surgery due to the incident.^[14][15] Another passenger posted the same video on Facebook and thousands of comments were subsequently posted regarding the Flight 3411 incident with expression of fury and anger. For example, some social media users trolled United and posted negative comments about the airline that drags passengers out of the airplane.^[16]

Other users mocked United’s well-known “Fly the Friendly Skies” slogan, as demonstrated in this retweeted post.

RT #pzambrana: #united "Fly the Friendly Skies" #united pic.twitter.com/cJr0qqRlTl

— Five Star Music (@FiveStarMusicUK) April 12, 2017

Some users cut up their United Airlines loyalty cards and shared the photos of their destroyed cards on social media.^[17]

Other Reactions

Several rival airlines released communication to remind customers that their airline was not involved in this unacceptable treatment of passengers.^[18] The following post from Royal Jordanian is an example of this communication.

We are here to keep you #united Dragging is strictly prohibited 🚫 pic.twitter.com/CSjZD7fM4J

— Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) April 10, 2017

United Airlines was also publicly criticized for their treatment of passengers by popular American celebrities Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen DeGeneres.^[19][20]

United Airlines

The airline industry encompassed a wide range of airlines that offered air transport services. The U.S. had three major international carriers (Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines^[21]) and eight additional large carriers.^[22] At the end of 2014, the three international carriers, plus the popular budget carrier Southwest Airlines, controlled more than 80% of all passenger travel in the U.S. market. In the U.S., passenger airlines had always been privately owned.^[23]

Founded in 1926, United Airlines — the third largest airline company in the airline industry — was based in Chicago, Illinois; had eight airport hubs; and served more than 150 million passengers each year. United was a key member of the Star Alliance^[24] and operated flights to 238 domestic destinations and 118 international destinations in 48 countries or regions across continents. United’s operating revenues and operating expenses comprised nearly 100% of United Airlines Holdings, Inc. revenues and operating expenses.^[25]

United Airlines had 92,795 employees and all United Airline pilots were represented by the Air Line Pilots Association.^[26][27] The airline’s early marketing slogan “The Main Line Airway” was replaced in 1965 with “Fly the Friendly Skies,” which was used until 1996. This slogan was then revived again by United in 2013 and “Fly the Friendly Skies” was in use at the time of this incident.^[28]

Airline Industry Overbooking Practices

The United Airlines Flight 3411 incident inspired criticism of a system that allowed airlines to involuntarily remove passengers from flights; however, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), United Airlines was acting within its rights.^[29] IATA’s position was that airlines should be allowed to continue long-established overbooking practices because the airline business was unique in that once a flight took off, the seats on that flight were no longer available for sale. Overbooking was a standard practice for airlines, and airlines had the right to oversale and overbook for different reasons, including anticipation of no-show passengers, concern that the plane may be too heavy, or the need to transport flight staff to different airports^[30][31]; this last reason was the cause of the United Airlines Flight 3411 incident. The passenger on United Airlines Flight 3411 was asked to give up his seat to allow a United Airline employee a seat on the plane for airline business. Usually, airlines provided payment to passengers when requesting that they give up their seats.^[32] Overbooking was legal, but it could cause problems if passengers refused to give up their seat. For this reason, most airlines attempted to solve overbooking issues before boarding began.^[33]

Similar Incidents

United Airlines had received previous public backlash due to passengers’ mistreatment. One example was the three “United Breaks Guitars” protest songs released on social media. These songs told the real-life experience of a Canadian musician whose guitar was broken during a United Airline flight in 2008, including how the airline refused to compensate him for the damages.^[34]

However, United was not the only airline accused of misconduct. Weeks after the United Airlines Flight 3411 incident, a video of an American Airlines’ flight-attendant forcefully taking a child’s stroller from a mother was posted on the internet.^[35] American Airlines issued an immediate apology and suspended the employee involved in the argument with the passenger.^[36]

In May 2017, Delta faced a similar incident in which a passenger and crew members argued over a seat.^[37] Delta offered compensation and an apology to the passenger and his family. These incidents prompted serious questions about the treatment of passengers by airlines.^[38]

United Airlines Flight 3411 Public Relations Crisis Escalates

Public backlash grew worse after Munoz released the first public statement. Munoz was notified that — in the wake of this scandal — he would no longer be promoted to the position of chair at United Continental Holdings in 2018, as planned.^[39] Munoz decided to change course and take full responsibility for the Flight 3411 crisis.^[40]

Tuesday, April 11, continued

Munoz issued his second statement to employees in which he promised such an incident would never happen again.^[41]

In his statement he added that the airline took “full responsibility” for “forcibly” removing the passenger.^[42] The statement was addressed to employees and made publicly available.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Statement from United Airlines CEO, Oscar Munoz, on United Express Flight 3411^[43]

Dear Team,

The truly horrific event that occurred on this flight has elicited many responses from all of us: outrage, anger, disappointment. I share all of those sentiments, and one above all: my deepest apologies for what happened. Like you, I continue to be disturbed by what happened on this flight and I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard. No one should ever be mistreated this way.

I want you to know that we take full responsibility and we will work to make it right.

It’s never too late to do the right thing. I have committed to our customers and our employees that we are going to fix what’s broken so this never happens again. This will include a thorough review of crew movement, our policies for incentivizing volunteers in these situations, how we handle oversold situations and an examination of how we partner with airport authorities and local law enforcement. We’ll communicate the results of our review by April 30th.

I promise you we will do better.

Sincerely,

Oscar

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Munoz participated in an exclusive interview with ABC News “Good Morning America,” explaining that he felt shame when he saw the viral video of a bloodied passenger dragged from one of his airline’s flights, adding that this would “never happen again.”^[44]

United Airlines Announced Plan Going Forward

Thursday, April 13, 2017

In a press conference statement by United Airlines^[45], the airline updated the public on its plans for improvement going forward:

We continue to express our sincerest apology to Dr. Dao. We cannot stress enough that we remain steadfast in our commitment to make this right.

This horrible situation has provided a harsh learning experience from which we will take immediate, concrete action. We have committed to our customers and our employees that we are going to fix what’s broken so this never happens again.

First, we are committing that United will not ask law enforcement officers to remove passengers from our flights unless it is a matter of safety and security. Second, we’ve started a thorough review of policies that govern crew movement, incentivizing volunteers in these situations, how we handle oversold situations and an examination of how we partner with airport authorities and local law enforcement. Third, we will fully review and improve our training programs to ensure our employees are prepared and empowered to put our customers first. Our values — not just systems — will guide everything we do. We’ll communicate the results of our review and the actions we will take by April 30.

United CEO Oscar Munoz and the company called Dr. Dao on numerous occasions to express our heartfelt and deepest apologies.

Communications Strategies

Throughout the United Airlines Flight 3411 public relations crisis, United relied on its weblog, UNITED HUB, as the main information source and communication channel to publish crisis-related news, updates, and responses.^[46] Facebook and Twitter were used for publishing the initial response to the crisis incident.

Closure

Sunday, April 16, 2017

One week after the United Airlines flight 3411 incident had sparked a public relations crisis, United Airlines CEO Munoz communicated that the airline was prepared to take full responsibility for the situation, adding that the airline had reached an undisclosed settlement agreement with the passenger involved, Dr. David Dao.^[47] United Airlines immediately implemented a new policy to prevent last-minute boarding for crew members, and the airline agreed to continue the review of its policies for operational improvement.^[48] Due to Munoz’s strategy for managing the Flight 3411 public communication crisis, he lost his opportunity to assume position of chair of United Continental Holdings.^[49] What could Munoz have done differently to better manage the Flight 3411 public communication crisis?

References

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How to cite this case: Hosseinali-Mirza, H. (2024). United Airlines: Flight 3411 public communication crisis. Open Access Teaching Case Journal, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.58067/152x-z984

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