Assignment Content
1.
Top of Form
There are numerous examples of fascinating real-life challenges in the world of crisis management. Let’s take a look at one highly visible crisis management case study from 2018, looking in particular at what we can learn from it. You can click in the hyerlinks in the reading for more details about this event.
United Airlines customer service failures
What Happened
It’s close to a year ago that videos shot by fellow passengers of
Dr David Dao being forcibly removed from United flight 3411 blew up on social media and, very soon thereafter, the mainstream media.
It started when airline staff in Chicago asked passengers for four volunteers to give up their seats to make room for United employees headed to Louisville. No-one volunteered.
Four passengers were then directly asked to remove their luggage and vacate their seats. Three complied, one did not.
Staff insisted and Dr Dao continued to stay in his seat. Then airport police were called.
That’s when the events unfolded that have been seen
millions of times on video
.
A passenger with a bloodied face, who had paid for his seat, being forcibly dragged down the aisle as he yelled complaints.
Next morning, United CEO Oscar Munoz issued a statement justifying what happened, describing it as ‘re-accommodating the customers’. Munoz also sent an email to United staff commending the actions of the crew.
More recent mishaps with United Airlines’ treatment of traveling pets has both reminded people of the Dr Dao incident and focused yet more attention on United’s continued failure to build a customer-focused culture.
What We Learned
This was a perfect illustration of the
need for speed
.
It took United a day to respond, and even then their response was inadequate, betraying any understanding of the role of social media in reporting and magnifying failures in company customer services.
By Monday morning the story of what happened on flight 3411 had been told and viewed by millions. It took United several days to finally respond in a way that acknowledged the seriousness of what happened and how it made the airline look in the eyes of customers and regulators.
It was too late.
The damage to the
reputation
and business of United lingers to the present day – refreshed by the unfortunate incidents with the pets.
Instructions: Using the two readings from weeks 1 and 2, write a double-spaced two-page paper (size 12 font) to discuss how you would respond to this crisis. You can also use other sources, and be sure to cite your sources using APA formatting.
Bottom of Form
