The Friendly Skies?

United clueless about the realities of today’s social media world

When will they ever learn? This is the age of social media. Even if you are technically right, things can go horribly, horribly wrong. And once the story goes viral and the crowd gets ugly, you cannot reason your way out in the court of public opinion.

It’s a lesson United Airlines learned this week. Most know the story. United overbooked a flight Sunday from Chicago to Louisville. The airline needed to transport a four-member crew and asked four passengers to give up their seats. No one volunteered, so four passengers were selected and asked to leave the plane. They would be accommodated on a later flight and received monetary compensation.

Stories vary, but one of the selected passengers, a physician, refused to leave. Airport police were called and an altercation ensured. This being the age of smartphones, it was caught on video. The man was hauled off the plane, bruised and bloodied.

Well, it didn’t take long before United had a public relations nightmare on its hands. Thousand shared the video. Millions saw it. And they weren’t shy about ripping the airline.

United’s CEO showed a remarkable cluelessness in public statements Monday, offering the weakest of apologies while defending the airline’s actions. It was, after all, legal to both overbook flights and then jettison passengers who had paid for their tickets if need be. That did not go down well with the public.

United backtracked and grew ever more contrite. Didn’t do much good. The public was mad and ready to bring out tar and feathers. It’s stock lost more than $200 million in value in subsequent days, there have been calls for a boycott, and the physician is taking the carrier to court.

Basically, United could have rented a limo and taken its four crew members to Louisville for a tiny fraction of what this is going to cost them. Heck, the airline could have bought a small plane on the spot and flown them and still saved millions of dollars.

United may have been within its rights, but they are behind the times. At one time something like this may have made a few papers, possibly even the nightly news. This is not that time. Thanks to the internet and social media, companies must always, always take into account how their actions, in any situation, could be seen by the public. Because those actions will be seen by a public that is tired of how they have been treated for years by corporate America and now has the means to fight back.

Companies must also be quick to recognize and respond when the anger hits. Trying to justify won’t cut it. Even reason doesn’t do much good. Admitting mistakes and making amends is what the crowds demand.

United will recover in time and hopefully they learned something. But it will be a long while before anyone refers to their “fly the friendly skies” slogan as anything but a joke.