AIRLINE SAGA STIRS SOCIAL MEDIA POWER

The world is talking about how a paying passenger of Asian origin was mistreated on his flight from Chicago because an airline needed to clear up space for four of its crew members. The incident on United Airlines’ flight 3411 is likely to help reshape the way airlines treat their passengers and possibly what the passenger’s rights are on an airline, at least in the United States. These rules will most likely be applied in other countries as well in the years ahead.

The entire saga started with Dr David Dao refusing to disembark the aircraft after being randomly chosen to do so. In the effort to get the passenger off the aircraft, airport security officers were called in and used force to get Dr Dao out of the aircraft. Whatever ensued thereafter is being investigated but the image of the bleeding passenger being dragged down the aisle of the aircraft with two broken teeth continues to haunt frequent air travellers.

Could that be one of us the next time we take a flight for work? Dr Dao refused to disembark because he said he had an appointment with his patient once he reached his destination. Many of us could have a connecting flight, family members breathing their last moments in the hope of seeing their child, or even social engagements that we want to attend. Could we miss these engagements due to possible random selection that befalls us one day?

These among many other questions are yet to be answered, and hopefully the lawsuit being filed by Dr Dao will clarify this for the rest of the world. But one of the biggest lessons that was learned from this incident was the power of social media in our daily lives.

In the past social media were seen as a way to help resolve some of the inherent problems in the daily lives of people that were not caught on security cameras, but now it seems the power of social media is growing from strength to strength.

The bumping off of Dr Dao prompted the airline’s chief executive, Oscar Munoz, to come out to defend the actions of its employees. But when he saw that the sentiments of people were turning against his position, he came out to apologise and compensate the passengers on the flight.

If this was not enough to convince anyone of the powers of social media, United Continental Holdings saw its market capitalisation wiped out by about US$1 billion in the days following the incident.

Mr Munoz’s initial defence of the airline staff and procedures was a public relations disaster, especially as only a month earlier he received PR Week’s Communicator of the Year award. His decision to put the staff first and not the customer has cost him dearly and will be recorded in history books as one of the blunders that led to an overhaul of the aviation industry.

For those in the corporate world who have relied so heavily on the backing of governments and other key segments of society to get their way, this event should be a lesson in how not to handle a crisis.

With the world so connected, any action or reaction to events can lead to a major impact on businesses. This is evident for companies such as United Continental and even locally. Bad work practices led retail giant CP All Plc, the operator of 7-Eleven stores, to come out to apologise to the public after the Siam Banana saga in 2015.

CP All’s operations in Thailand suffered from the public backlash that went viral and led to a boycott of the stores, prompting executives to approach the media to calm the situation down.

Eventually the situation returned to normal but the damage to the company’s reputation had already been done and any new incident may reignite the ticking time bomb.

In the case of United Airlines, the first instinct of the chief executive was to back his subordinates, but when the evidence was piling up against the company, Mr Munoz reversed gears. But this was a little too late and what Mr Munoz should have done was to come out to be more apologetic to the passenger from the start because the evidence of him bleeding was there from the very first video that came out on social media.

CEOs should realise that it is easier to damage a brand than to build it, and in the current era of fickle consumer sentiment brands have higher value than even products. It is necessary for companies to learn that they need to adapt to the world’s changing media landscape and have a responsive team of communicators to help calm situations down before the storm erupts.