In the past week United Airlines has gone from having a questionable reputation to being America’s most hated company. Videos and reports of a man being forcefully dragged down the aisle of an overbooked flight has flooded the internet, and United has been vilified for it. So, how has the company handled this incident? Not well. Ethical crisis communication is key for any company that has landed in hot water. The following two points are guidelines on how to conduct an ethical crisis response and how United failed to follow them.
Ensure that your actions live up to your mission statement
Every company should have a clearly defined mission statement that should include goals, values and future objectives. These components should set a standard that the public, customers and stakeholders should expect the company to live up to. In the wake of a crisis situation, the mission statement should be used to figure out what went wrong, whether the incident is the company’s fault and what steps should be taken to move forward.
In United Airline’s mission statement, or “customer commitment” statement, the company discusses the importance of treating customers fairly and making every flight a positive experience. Clearly fairness and positivity does not describe having a passenger dragged off the the plane to make room for United employees. It is also worthy mentioning that in United’s oversold flight policy they state “If you are involuntarily denied boarding and have complied with our check-in and other applicable rules, we will give you a written statement that describes your rights and explains how we determine boarding priority for an oversold flight.” United’s action go directly against their own written statement. In this case the passenger was not denied boarding. He was allowed to take his seat and then involuntarily removed from the flight without a written explanation. Going against your company’s mission statement in a brute and violent manner clearly crosses an ethical line.
If the crisis is your fault, sincerely apologize
David Kalson in his article “Six Guidelines for Ethical Crisis Communication” discuss the important of sincerity in a crisis situation. “If your organization has been at fault to the point where it precipitated a crisis – apologize for the wrongdoing,” Kalson says. “But you have to really apologize. Don’t fall into the “I’m sorry you feel that way,” faux apology that’s often driven by lawyers.” Unfortunately for United that’s exactly what they did.
The Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Airlines, released a statement that apologized only for “having to re-accommodate these customers.” It wasn’t until days later that he finally described the incident as “truly horrific.” At that point it was too late in the eyes of the public the response was seen as extremely callous. By completely ignoring the actions that the company should have originally apologized for Munoz destroyed the ethical need for sincerity in his crisis communication. This has only worsened their situation and has caused more customers to swear off using United ever again.
United Airlines has been repeatedly blasted for poor customer service, but this crisis has destroyed the company’s reputation in a way that may be irreparable. Public relations specialists everywhere should use United’s situation as a stark reminder of what can go wrong and how failing to follow an ethical crisis communication plan can make a bad situation nearly impossible to recover from.
Kelsey Bixler 