United Airlines Fail on Social

Just a couple weeks after the leggings attire controversy, United Airlines once again was caught in a scandal, that quickly escalated on social media. On April 9, a man was violently removed from a United Airlines' flight, shown virally on Facebook and Twitter. To make matters worse, United Airlines failed with their social media and public relations management, truly not grasping the severity of the situation. United responded to the incident on Twitter entirely too casual, causing an uproar of people online.



So, what should United have done? United was not transparent to the public, "[hiding] behind its own policies". First, the word policy has a negative connotation, and United's "policy" is too old-fashioned, which in turn angered customers even further. Also, United failed to offer an apology or show any empathy during this controversy. United failed to take responsibility for its actions, and highly underestimated the magnitude of this viral video. United should have communicated online with customers as if they were friends, as opposed to using industry jargon. In this situation, customers want to feel safe, and confident in brands that they follow. Due to United's lack of sympathy and responsibility, customers lost their respect for the brand. Brands should always remember the importance of social media today, and how one bad experience offline, can create a national if not global uproar if shared online. Although United did do well by responding, the airline failed to create a personal response, which negatively impacted the view of their brand.